Rescue
by Sarcastrow
Summary: While on assignment, Hermione uncovers a child slavery ring. Lavender and Seamus are sent to rescue the kids. this is Music I wrote inspired by this story /0O20omirNnU /0O20omirNnU (add h t t p the colon and slashes) I'm not Elton John, but still. A Sisters of the Moon Story
1. Investigation

Professor Finnigan

Part 1

Rescue

Chapter 1

Investigation

Two figures sat on a hill overlooking the little French village of Charix. The moonlight played in the hair of one, a blond woman with bright green eyes. Her companion, a man with greying, short, sandy hair, drew his wand from his robes and summoned a pair of cups from their travel bag. The thermos followed closely behind. He smiled at his companion as he poured them each a cup of tea.

"We've been watching them for better than three days now, would you be thinking you're ready?" he asked.

"Yes, tomorrow night should be good. How about you, Shay?" the woman asked. "It's not going to be pretty. I know you don't like to go looking for a fight, but these people…"

"Not a problem, Lav me love. I'm not inclined to be nice, not with what they do for a living," Seamus said grimly.

"Alright," Lavender said, "let's get back to Nantua and the hotel. I'll make the contact and set up the meeting."

They stared at the old mansion and finished their tea. Seamus banished the cups and thermos back to their bag. They stood, twisted on the spot, and were gone.

One month earlier

The environmental control at The Ministry of Magic was acting up badly, and it was snowing in the entry hall. Ron was late. It was a frequent occurrence as he had never outgrown his tendency to sleep in as long as possible before bounding out of bed, dressing at top speed, and rushing to whatever his first appointment for the day was. This particular day his first appointment was with his best friend, and his wife. She had just returned from a three week undercover assignment for her division of the department of Magical Law Enforcement, and he was eager to see her. Cursing himself for his tardiness he ran pell-mell the length of the hall. As he approached the wand check desk and tried to stop, his feet came out from under him. He slid the last twenty feet on his back finally slamming into the desk in a heap.

"Good morning, Mr. Weasley. Glad you could join us today," the clerk said snidely. "Wand please." He held out his hand.

Ron shook the snow from his Auror robes as he stood. "How many times a day do people tell you to stuff it, David?" he asked him.

"You'll be the first today, sir," David said as Ron handed him his wand.

David did the scan and handed Ron his wand back. "It's you," he said flatly.

"Thanks for the news flash, David," Ron said, and he stowed his wand. "Quidditch practice tomorrow then?" he asked.

"Oh definitely," David replied. "The new seeker from the Department of Mysteries is supposed to be outstanding. You'll be there?"

"Oh yeah, I'm taking the day off, but I wouldn't miss practice for anything," Ron said proudly.

"I'm sure Mrs. Weasley appreciates your dedication," David said with a smirk.

Ron patted him on the shoulder as he passed, heading for the lifts. "Stuff it, Dave," he said.

David smiled broadly. "And a bright and cheerful morning to you too sir," he proclaimed in a grand, loud voice.

The lift clattered to a stop on his floor and he dashed down the hall to Harry's office. The new lettering on the door always made him proud.

Harry Potter

Secretary to the Minister

Auror Division

"They are the scum of the earth, Harry," Hermione said, shaking her head. "These people, it's inhuman, they kidnap and sell children."

The door to Harry's office opened and Ron walked in. "Who buys kids?" he asked, "And what the hell for?"

Hermione looked at him and shook her head. She loved this man more than humanly possible, and he was smarter than most people knew, but sometimes he could be a bit thick. "I'll get there, love." She stood and kissed him, and he kissed her back with fervour. The welcome back kiss was about to rapidly dissolve into a full on snog when Harry cleared his throat.

Hermione, quite red in the face, pulled back and smiled. "Uhmm, yes, right, as I was just telling Harry. You know that elf and pixie underground slavery ring that I'm working on?" she asked them both. They nodded. "Okay, well I was arranging a buy with my contact, and he mentioned that if I was looking for something a bit more 'lively' than an elf he could put me in contact with some people who could 'satisfy my needs'." She looked disgusted as she and Ron sat in the chairs facing Harry's desk. "After he clarified what that meant I told him that I wasn't interested, but that I may have a client that would be." She shook her head. "I just didn't think I could pull off that… I don't know, soullessness."

Ron looked at his wife. "I don't think you could either, love. I still don't get who would buy a kid. I mean ours are great, but George and Angie would probably sell Fred in a heartbeat," he chuckled.

Hermione turned to him. "Don't even say that as a joke, Ron. You don't know what they do with them."

"What, do they make them work in a factory or something," he asked.

Hermione leaned to him and whispered in his ear for almost a full minute. The longer she talked, the stonier Ron's face became. At the end his was positively seething. "I'll go," he said through clenched teeth.

Harry smirked. Ron was a great Auror, but Harry knew his best friend's limitations. "You'd never pull it off, Ron. They'd spot you as an agent fairly quickly, you know that. It wouldn't be ten minutes in and you'd come unglued on them. No, we need someone that can be covert, someone that can work from the inside, alone, someone they won't recognize." His voice became harsh. "Someone lethal."

They looked at each other and knew they were all thinking of the same person. Harry spoke first. "Lavender," he said. "Get as much information as you can, Hermione, and I'll brief Lavender and Seamus."

"They do what!" spat Lavender in a cold fury. She leapt to her feet and began pacing in Harry's office. "I will rip them apart, I'll play cricket with their fucking heads." She grabbed the edge of Harry's desk, and her voice became a deep growl. "And after I rip off their heads I'll ... I'll…" Eight parallel grooves appeared in the desk behind Lavenders hands as she clenched her fist.

Harry smirked. "Calm down, Lavender," he said. "I don't have a problem with you doing any or all of that, but first we have to get inside and rescue the children they've already got."

Seamus leaned forward. "So you say Hermione's setting up a meeting with her contact then?"

"Yeah," Harry replied. "I think Lavender should do all of the in person contact on this operation. I want you on this case, Seamus, but as her back up and surveillance. Lavender will do all the close work." He turned to her. "It'll be hard, Lavender. I know how you are about kids, it's why we love you as our kids security, but these guys… we have to take them down."

"Alright, Harry," she said, and her expression became hard. "But if I go on this, I go all the way, free rein, no second guessing."

Harry nodded and a grim smile played on his face. "As I said, I don't have a problem with that, Lavender. In fact, I'm counting on it."

Lavender grinned. "So, time to dust off Selene, eh?" she asked him.

Harry smiled broadly. "Yes, I think this is a perfect job for Miss Wolfe."

-~####

The little bistro sat on a corner near the Sloane Square tube station. Hermione had developed a taste for French cuisine during her youth when her parents had taken her to France on holiday. She had to admit that, outside of the restaurants they had frequented in Nice, and the occasional meal Fleur made at family get-togethers, the duck and leek dish she was enjoying was the best she'd had. Her contact, a small thin man with a few remaining wisps of hair left to him, was twitching nervously and looking around the restaurant with frightened eyes.

_Bet your patronus is a ferret, you little shit, _Hermione thought. She took up her wine glass and smiled at her contact. "My friend will be with us shortly. Calm down, Alfred."

"I'm just new at this kind of thing," he said. "I mean trading in elves, pixies, dragon eggs, and centaur foals is one thing, but this is a whole new area for me. The stakes are quite a bit higher, Elise. Hopefully the profit margin will make up for the increased risk," he said, grinning and rubbing his hands together in the universal sign of greed.

"Oh, you'll definitely be compensated for this, Alfred. Selene is… thorough in dealing with this type of thing," Hermione said with a small laugh. _You get to live, Alfred. Count yourself lucky, _she thought_._

He brightened. "Good. You know, if this works out I may have a whole new sideline. Can't say I much fancy dealing in, you know," — he looked around suspiciously and lowered his voice to a whisper — "kids, but if the money's good?" He smiled, and jiggled in his seat.

Hermione shook her head. "As I said, you'll be fully compensated for your actions, of that you can be sure." _Because I am personally going to kick your arse for you._ "So they're in France you said. How do they arrange transport?"

Alfred looked around, hunkered over the table, and moved closer to her. Hermione didn't pump him for information, she'd learned over the course of a few covert investigations that little questions in the middle of otherwise banal conversations got the job done. Talk about the finances for your particular deal, the methods of doing the exchange, all the little minutiae of an underground sale, and then slip in an off-hand question about what you really wanted too know.

"The man who runs the whole operation is a wizard, former buddy of Grindelwald. He gets them where they need to be delivered, no problem," Alfred said.

Hermione nodded. She had been working on disguises for years, and she thought the one she had worked up for this assignment was particularly good. Her hair, or rather Ginny's hair, slid in front of a young Narcissa's face, and she brushed it back. _I'll have to show this little glamour to both of them,_ she thought. "He doesn't fancy himself the new Dark Lord, I hope. We've had enough of that foolishness."

"Oh no, he's just interested in wealth," Alfred said. "It takes a bit of scratch to run his operation but he's very rich from it. I just hope my piece is substantial."

"I'm sure you'll get everything that's coming to you." _You arsehole_. "Ah, Selene's here." Hermione looked to the door and Alfred followed her gaze.

He let out an audible gasp. "You didn't tell me your friend was…"

"Staggeringly beautiful? No, I didn't, and yes, she knows," Hermione said with a smirk. "I've known Selene for a long time; you're not the first man to notice that."

Lavender approached the table. Hermione was so proud of her friend; she had completely submersed herself in the role. The haughty, superior look she had cultivated for her character was spot on. Andromeda and Narcissa had helped her refine the character of Selene Wolfe into a persona that was the epitome of upper class, Pureblood, British witch.

"Good afternoon, Elise," she said as she air kissed Hermione on the cheek. "This is your associate you told me about?"

Hermione smiled genuinely at Lavender. "Alfred Alger, this is my friend Selene Wolfe."

"Pleasure," Alfred said, and he gazed hungrily at Lavender.

_You were right, Hermione. He is an idiot._ "Yes, I'm sure," she replied as she sat next to Hermione. "What does it take to get a glass of wine in this dump?"

Hermione smiled inwardly. _You love this, don't you? _"I'll get the waitress for you, Selene." She gave a curt nod to the waitress when she caught her eye.

Lavender levelled her gaze at Alfred. "I'll get directly to the point, we have a mutual interest. I have clientele that has certain… appetites, and you have a connection that can supply my needs. I'm prepared to offer you a finder's fee of ten percent of the sale price, would that be acceptable?"

Alfred flinched visibly under Lavender's piercing gaze. The wolf, always with her, shone in her eyes. It spoke to the deep psyche of anyone and anything she levelled that stare at. The predatory nature of her other half cowed them without them even realizing it. "Th-th-that would be f-fine," he said.

"Excellent," Lavender said, and turned to the waitress who had just appeared at their table. "Do you have something in an eighty two Bordeaux?"

The waitress stepped back a pace. "Um, yes, Chateau Figeac St. Emilion," she said haltingly. "It's bottle only at two hundred and sixty."

"That will be fine, and three glasses," Lavender said dismissively, and then turned back to Hermione and Alfred. "I usually do my own procurement, but my business has grown quite a bit recently, and I've acquired a few clients with some very specific requirements." She smiled at Hermione. "Elise tells me that your supplier can meet these very specific needs, if that's the case I would like to move on this within the next few weeks. One of my newer clients has a toy that's coming to the end of its usefulness, and he'll be needing a replacement soon. I have five others that have also put in similar requests."

Alfred's eyes widened. "Your business is that large?"

"I usually deal in fully developed units that are pacified and compliant, but with my recent expansion" — and again she gave a smile and nod to Hermione — "I've almost doubled my client base, and some of them have… more refined tastes."

Hermione turned to Lavender. "Selene, is that government gentleman I sent your way still satisfied?" she asked.

Lavender chuckled. "Oh, very much so. The unit I supplied him as just what he wanted. You know it's interesting. The higher up in power a man gets the more" — she chuckled again — "interesting his peccadilloes."

_Did you ever consider acting?_ Hermione thought with a grin.

Alfred leaned forward. "What, specifically, are you looking for?" he asked.

"I have a list." Lavender dug in her purse for a moment. "Ah, here." She handed a sealed envelope to Alfred. "Look at this in private and contact me when you can arrange an inspection. If the units are acceptable I can purchase immediately." She again fixed Alfred with her intense stare.

"I, um, I, uh, yeah I'll do that, yeah," Alfred said lamely.

"Excellent," Lavender said. "Ah, the wine," she said as the waitress approached.

With some apprehension the waitress wiped the side of the bottle with the label and showed it to Lavender.

"Not the best, but satisfactory," she said to Hermione. "Well?" she asked the waitress.

"Yes madam," the waitress said and went about uncorking the wine. She was about to pour when Lavender stopped her. "Let it breathe a moment, silly girl. My god, Elise, don't they teach anything anymore. Christ, does this shack even have a sommelier?" She turned to the waitress. "First you hand me the cork."

'Y-yes , I was about to do that," the now terrified girl answered.

Lavender snatched the cork from her outstretched hand. She held it a few inches from her nose and sniffed lightly. _Oh my god, this some of the best in the world, _she thought. "Here." She handed the cork to the waitress. "Sniff, don't snort."

The girl did as instructed.

"Smell that? That's the earth of France, and that undertone of fruit? Almost apple? That's the mark of a good bottle," she told her. "Doesn't smell sour or perfumey like the crap they make in California." Lavender held up her glass. "Pour a little into this."

The trembling young woman did as she was told.

_Give the poor thing a break, Lav,_ Hermione thought, grinning.

Lavender swished the wine in her glass and gave it another sniff. She had to stop the tremble of pleasure it brought. "Take a careful sniff." She handed the glass to the silent waitress. "That's how it's supposed to smell. There's even a pepper over-note. Umm, yes, this will do nicely." She took the glass back from her and sipped from it. _Oh fuck this is good. Hope you enjoy this, Hermione. Harry's going to go spare when he sees the bill._ She smirked at the thought of the coming conversation. "We'll just let it breathe for a few minutes. Bring us a cheese platter." She looked up at the girl. "Now."

The waitress practically ran from them.

"You enjoy torturing the help, don't you, Selene?" Hermione asked with a smirk.

Lavender chuckled, raised the glass, and while she contemplated the color of the wine said, "It's one of the few pleasures someone in my position has. I've run the course of men and found them wanting. Women are too compliant, present company excluded," — she grinned at Hermione — "and too much alcohol dulls the senses. No, abuse is the best entertainment I get these days."

The waitress returned a few moments later with a wooden platter on which sat an assortment of cheeses, olives and bread slices.

Lavender poured them all a generous glass and held hers up. "To business!" she said, and Hermione and Alfred joined the toast. Nibbling a bit of brie from the platter she asked Hermione, "How's your enterprise going these days, Elise?"

"As well as can be expected with all the new regulations and such the ministry is putting on the use of the lower creatures. That bitch Weasley is ruining it for the lot of us." _Served that one up nicely, didn't I, Lav?_

Lavender chuckled. "Yes, did you know I had a passing acquaintance with her at school?" _Volley! _

Hermione looked to Lavender with a curious expression. "No, what was she like?" _And back to you._

_Alright, Hermione ,here we go. _"Oh she was pretty enough, but she was an insufferable know it all, and when she got on her crusade to free the elves, pfft!" Lavender waved her hand and rolled her eyes. "I'm surprised no one has tried to have her 'removed from office'."

Alfred looked on puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Hermione turned to him. "You know, Alfred. When you have a pest problem, you call the exterminator. You're closer to this than we are. Have you heard anything along those lines?" _Well played, Lav._

Alfred shook his head and nervously fiddled with his cutlery. "No, no, I don't have any dealings in that sort of thing. What we're doing here is as far as I'm willing to go. I've heard her name mentioned a few times, but everyone's afraid of her husband and Potter. I don't think you'll be rid of her anytime soon."

Hermione frowned. _Thanks, Alfred. Good thing to know._ "Ah well, that's too bad. We'll just have to continue on underground then." Hermione took another sip of the wine. "Oh, Selene, this is quite good."

Lavender raised her own glass. "Yes, not bad. What say you, Alfred?"

"I, um well, I don't get this quality very often, so I'm not much of a judge," he replied blushing slightly.

"If we do enough business, Alfred, you'll find yourself becoming acquainted with the finer things," Lavender said as she patted his hand.

Alfred grinned like a teenager at Lavender, and then all too quickly drained his glass. "I'll be running along then, I've got lots to do and arrange. Thanks for the wine, and you'll be hearing from me soon Ms. Wolfe, Elise," he said, and rose from his chair.

Lavender offered her hand to him. "A pleasure, Alfred, here's hoping for a long and mutually beneficial relationship."

Alfred took her hand, and looked her over one last time. "Well, cheers," he said.

"Goodbye, Alfred," Hermione said.

"Goodbye, Elise." He turned and strode from the restaurant.

"I think that went very well, Elise," Lavender told Hermione. "Hopefully he won't take long."

"Alfred is not that bright, but he is dependable. He'll be contacting you within the week, I'll wager." Hermione took up her glass and giggled. "Harry's going to give us an inordinate amount of grief for this, you know that don't you?" she said in a whisper.

"He'll get over it. Besides, I've got to act the part now, haven't I?" Lavender whispered with a wink. "Oh, that reminds me." She drew a small piece of parchment and an old fountain pen from her purse. Grinning to herself she scribbled a quick note on the parchment, wrapped a fifty pound note around the cork, and then wrapped the parchment around it all. Lavender looked quickly around at the nearby tables, making sure they weren't being watched, and then with a quick few flicks of her wand a bit of string appeared and tied itself around the bundle, and then the bundle disappeared.

Hermione looked at her friend and smiled warmly. "For the waitress?" she asked.

"Yes, she'll have quite a nice surprise when she turns out her pockets tonight. I do hope she learned a few things, I mean everything I said was true."

Hermione laughed. "Oh, I'm sure she learned quite a bit tonight."

Lavender's smile went all the way to her eyes. The two women shared a quiet moment of friendship and finished their wine.

-~####

_Well this day was bloody awful,_ Angela Law thought as she closed the door to her flat and threw the keys on the end table by the door. _God that bitch was a terrifying, stuck up, hoity-toity cow._ "What the hell?" she said out loud as she pulled a small bundle from the inside pocket of her uniform. "How'd this get there?" She untied the string, pulled the fifty pounds from the cork, and read the note.

_Sorry I was so ugly to you this evening. There are some children that are in very great danger, and you have helped me to save them. Thank you._

_ Buy yourself something nice._

_L._

"I take it all back," Angela said to the empty room.


	2. Reconnaissance

Professor Finnigan

Part 1

Rescue

Chapter 2

Reconnaissance

Lavender looked through the omnioculars at the compound. It was centered around what appeared to be a nineteenth-century French manor house.

"Guard posts at the corners and gate, and they're the same three guards as last night," Seamus said from her side. "They're doing the same fifteen minute rotation too. Not much in the way of defense."

"Arseholes are more concerned with the kids escaping than an attack," she said. "Still, be careful, Shay. Don't come in wand blazing until I give the signal, alright, love?"

"Oh, I'll be careful, you just see to yourself," he said. "I still get a little tense when you do this kind of thing, Lav. You're not invulnerable or immortal, so don't get too caught up in the moment. I want me wife back in me bed tonight."

She smiled and kissed him. "I'm always careful, love."

He grinned. "Is that so, is it? How'd you wind up adding to your little collection o' scars then?"

She looked to him coyly. "Those were just grazes. Besides," — and she stroked her hand down his side and kissed his neck — "you like my scars," her hot breath whispered in his ear.

He chuckled. "That I do." He cupped her cheek and stroked it with his thumb. "That I do. Go get 'em, love."

She kissed him again, and then walked away toward the road that led to the compound.

-~####

Alfred was as dependable as he was thick, Lavender found. Three days later the goblins of Gringotts let Harry know that there was a letter in Selene Wolfe's post box. Lavender, along with Seamus, Harry, Hermione, and Allan Wheaton, the Minister for Magic, were sitting in the Minister's office.

The Minister, a stout man with a full head of grey-black hair, leaned forward on his desk and looked at Lavender over the top of his glasses. "Harry has briefed me on the operation so far, Lavender. I'm a bit concerned that you all intend her to do this solo," he said. "You're a very valuable resource, not to mention a good friend. I'd like you to reconsider the manner in which you wish to carry out the infiltration."

"I'll be fine, Minister," Lavender said. "Seamus and I will do our typical thorough surveillance before we move in. From what Hermione and I have been able to glean, it's a mostly Muggle operation with a wizard at the top."

"A wizard who was a follower of Grindelwald," he said. "They're just as bad as the Death Eaters, Lavender, ruthless and deadly. Don't get too confident."

Hermione saw her friend tense and laid her hand on Lavender's. "Allan, you know as well as any of us, if they let her in the door it's all over for them. You've seen what she can do. Even without resorting to her wolf form she can take any Auror in the department in seconds. Lavender will be fine, they won't stand a chance."

"I appreciate your confidence, Hermione, and I share it, but there's always the unforeseen circumstance." He turned to Lavender and Seamus. "I've spoken to the Mugwump, and to the security seven in the Wizengamot. They've cleared you for any action you see fit to take." His voice softened. "You're not our assassin, Lavender, we know that. But we also know how you feel and react to this type of thing, so just do what has to be done." He smiled. "But please, don't make too much of a mess," he said, pleadingly. "And on that note, I'd like a backup team with you."

"Who'd you have in mind, sir?" Seamus asked.

The Minister looked thoughtful. "I was thinking Ron Weasley and Cal U-Dalley? How do you feel about that?"

Lavender looked at the Minister. She had always liked Allan, and knew he was looking out for her, but she was never one to like being coddled. "As long as they stay well back and don't compromise my cover, okay. Are you sure you want to send our African Exchange Auror on this?"

The Minister smirked, apparently at some private joke. "Oh yes, I'm sure."

Lavender shrugged. "Okay then. Seamus and I will use the coins to keep them current when we're in position, will that be all right?"

The Minister nodded. "Yes, that should work well. They're in France, are they? Well, I can see I'll be making some apologies to the French Ministry when this is all over," he said with a laugh. "You may have to make another one of those grip and grin tours, Harry."

Harry rolled his eyes and nodded. The "grip and grin tour" was their euphemism for having to meet all the higher ups in some foreign country, shake their hands, and tell the story of how he defeated Voldemort for the thousandth time. "Of course, sir," he said in an overly dramatic voice.

The Minister laughed in his deep baritone. "Alright, alright," he said as leaned back in his chair. "You'll have the Portkeys you'll need to get there and back?"

"Yes, sir," Harry said. "We're arranging a direct key to Nantua, and an open destination key back, so they can take the rescued kids where ever they need to go."

"Good thinking, Harry. You four are some of the best agents we've ever had in the department. Take good care of my… assets, would you?" he said with a grin. "Now, get out of my office and go kick evil's arse… again."

"Yes sir. Thanks." Harry said.

-~####

The guard stepped from his little shack and leveled his Muggle gun at Lavender as she approached. "Bonjour Mademoiselle…?" he asked.

"Wolfe," she replied. The few Aurors in the department that knew had thought her covert persona's name was screamingly funny. "Selene Wolfe."

"Ah yes, Mademoiselle Wolfe. We were told to expect you." He lowered his weapon and opened the gate. "I did not 'ear a car?"

Lavender smiled. "I didn't use one."

The guard nodded in comprehension. "Ah yes, I see. We are not often graced by a witch, and never one of such beauty." He turned and started walking towards the building. "If you will follow me, the director will see to your needs."

Lavender looked at him askance. "You're aware of my business?"

"Oh, no mademoiselle, I am only a guard. What the director and the master do is their business, and I try to know as little as possible. My wife told me to. It keeps me safe."

_And she just saved your life,_ Lavender thought. "What's your name?"

"Claude."

"Well, Claude, here's what I want you to do." She had palmed her wand, and he didn't even see her level it at his head. "_Obliviate_! You won't remember me; you won't remember anything that happens tonight. When all hell breaks loose in a little while, you will run home and thank your lucky stars that you weren't killed in the fire that leveled this place. If you encounter a red-headed man, an Irishman, or a black man coming from the woods you will say, 'Lavender says let me go.' Got that?"

He stared blankly into the night. "Run 'ome, if I meet a red-headed man, Irishman, or a black man say, 'Lavender says let me go'."

"Perfect, Claude. Oh, and you will make passionate love to your wife," she said with a grin.

"Yes, mademoiselle, make passionate love to Clair." A hint of a smile played on his face.

"Good boy." She flicked her wand up once, and then it disappeared back under her robes.

Claude stumbled, and shook his head. "I'm sorry, mademoiselle, what was I saying?"

Lavender smiled. "Nothing, Claude. Just how much you love your wife."

He smiled so broadly that Lavender could see it from behind. "Ah, oui, mademoiselle, I am counting the hours till I return to her."

They had reached the great doors to the house. "You're a good man, Claude. Take good care of her."

"Of course, mademoiselle," he said, and then rang the door bell. "The director is expecting you, and he should be with you shortly." Claude turned and strode back towards the guard shack.

-~####

_Ms. Wolfe,_

_ My business contacts say they can easily meet your needs. Proceed to Nantua in the French Alps. Make contact with Philippe, the barista at the Angelic Coffee House._

_Alfred _

Seamus sat on the bed and turned to his wife. "So, we're set to go?"

Lavender was brushing out her hair at the vanity in their room. "Yes, Harry's got the Portkeys ready, Ron and Cal have been in place for two days now, and our rooms are reserved in Nantua." She turned to her husband. "We haven't been to France on holiday since the honeymoon, I do wish we weren't going on business." She shot him a glance that told him how she'd rather spend a week in France.

Seamus looked across the room at his wife. Even after twenty years, his heart still swelled with so much love for her that it sometimes made it a little hard for him to breathe. "Well, maybe we can get the Potters and Weasleys to take the kids on a little cultural tour soon, then we'd get paid to go."

"You are such an Irishman!' she said, as she rose from her chair and walked across their bedroom to him. "We do get compensated rather well for providing security for the kids. We can afford it on our own you know."

She sat in his lap and he gathered her in his arms. "You're right," he said with a sigh. "I am an Irishman." She slapped his arm. Seamus hugged her tighter and fell back on the bed, then he turned her to face him. "Let's look into it, Lav, we could use a bit of a holiday. We've traveled all over the world, but it's always been on business. We never have time to just take it in. I'd like to go back to Japan again." He smiled at the memory. "Tokyo was amazing, the Ginzu district, brilliant, and you could say hello to Master Siato."

"That'd be great, Shay, and we could pop over to China and look in on Masters Po and Ding." There was a sparkle in her eyes as she thought about it. "We'd have to make sure the kids were properly looked after before we go anywhere though."

Seamus recognized the look and her tone. "Mam wolf doesn't like leaving the cubs, I know." He kissed her. "You are aware that Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Harry are four fairly capable witches and wizards, aren't you? I think they can handle us being gone for a few weeks. They're handling this week okay."

"That's because the only ones not at school are Lily and Hugo." She smiled wistfully. "What are we going to do with ourselves when they're all at school?"

"How do you feel about teaching?" he asked, softy and seriously.

She looked at him with her puzzled expression that always made him laugh "What do you mean?"

He chuckled to a stop. "Dadelus is thinking about retiring. He's been DADA professor for almost fifteen years, and he's frankly getting on a bit. We were talking the other day and he suggested you." Seamus lit up as he talked. "Hogwarts duty isn't like it was; the professors can have a personal life now, look at Nev and Hannah. You'd be perfect, Lav. You know more about defense and fighting than anybody."

"Oh, I'm sure the governors would be delighted with the thought of another werewolf as DADA teacher. It went so well the last time," she said sarcastically.

He ran his hand down her cheek. "I think they'd be thrilled to have you; the kids certainly would. There wouldn't be one in the class that didn't grow up with 'The Good Wolf' on their nightstand. You know that." He stroked her hair. "We've done our bit, Lav. This is a game for the young, and like it or not, we're nearly forty."

"Speak for yourself," she said, haughtily. "I've been twenty-eight for ten years now."

"Yeah, and you're just as beautiful as the day I married you." He drew her into a kiss. His hand snaked its way up her side and slid under her blouse.

"Mmm, you'll mess my hair," she said, but didn't pull away.

"I'll brush it out for you."

"You'll wrinkle my clothes."

"I do own a wand," he said, as he kissed his way down her neck.

"That you do."

-~####

The short, fat man who answered the door was momentarily stunned by the beautiful woman that stood in the doorway. He started to speak, sputtered and started again. "B-bonjour… a… Miss Wolfe, 'ow was your trip?"

Lavender presented her business face. "Pleasant, but my time is precious. I'm here to purchase some stock, and I'm given to understand that you can provide what I need."

"Oh yes, miss. We can provide boys and girls of any age and coloring," the man replied enthusiastically as he held the door for her to pass. "We 'ave examined the list of requests you forwarded through Alfred, and I believe we 'ave the… 'ow did you put it… units you require."

_You're a dead man. _"Excellent. Well, shall we examine my requests?" she said with a smile, and strode into the entryway.

"Certainly, but first you must have a sample of the local vineyards," he said as he gestured for her to accompany him to a nearby room.

"Oh, if you insist," she said in a slightly exasperated tone. "You are 'the Director' then."

"Yes, Miss Wolfe, I am Director LaBeau. I will be representing the master in our dealings."

"Very good, and the rest of your staff can be counted on for their discretion?"

He smiled as he poured a glass of deep red liquor for each of them. "Absolutely, only the house staff is aware of our particular industry, and we pay them enough to ensure their loyalty. Also, there is the master who, as I'm sure you know, is quite capable of making them regret any transgressions."

"I don't suppose there will be a meeting between us?" she asked.

"The master values his solitude and anonymity, Miss Wolfe. He does not meet clients."

"I understand." She took her glass and sniffed. _This assignment is going to completely spoil me._ The glass contained another spectacular wine. The sobriety potion she had taken moments before approaching the gates would ensure that none of the alcohol would enter her system. "Spectacular nose," she said, and took a sip. "Very nice. Local you say?"

"Yes, just down the valley from Nantua is the vineyard." He smiled and sipped from his glass. "We get first choice of the bottling, and the master loves this.

"I'll have to pick up a case before I go then. Thank you, Monsieur LaBeau, but now, to business."

You English," he said smiling, "you 'ave never perfected the art of enjoying life the way we French 'ave. It's a great pity to rush through pleasures such as this. However," — he set his glass on a table — "if you will follow me…."

-~####

The Portkey dropped them in a grove of trees outside the town of Nantua. Harry had asked his Muggle cousin to reserve rooms at two different hotels. One hotel would be the base for Lavender and Seamus, the other for Ron and Cal. The sun was rising over the Alps as they made their way to the hotel by the lake. Lavender stopped at the window of a shop they were passing.

"You know, after we check in and drop our things off at the hotel, I'd like to come back here," she said to Seamus.

He looked at her questioningly. "Why's that, love?"

She smiled warmly at him and inclined her head at the shop window. "Just look at these shoes. That pair of red pumps would go great with those new dress robes that Padma designed."

"Just how many pairs of shoes do you own anyway?" he said laughing.

"Not enough," she said, looking confused that he would ask such a silly question.

He chuckled and nodded his head. "Alright, but on the way back here we have to stop at a bakery. I'm a bit peckish."

"Food and shoes. We're a pair, aren't we?" she said with a smile.

"No regrets?" he asked.

"Never once," she said, and kissed him.

The hotel sat at the water's edge. Their balcony overlooked the lake, and the Alps were reflected in its calm surface. As Lavender sorted her clothes into the dresser, Seamus held his wand to the coin on the chain around his neck.

"In place," he muttered, and the coin glowed momentarily. "Okay, Ron and Mister U-Dalley know we're here, let's get something to eat."

Lavender crossed the room and wrapped her arms around him. "What do you fancy?"

Seamus looked at her and smiled. "Staying in bed all day, but I think we should probably do some reconnaissance. Do you reckon we can find that boulangerie we passed on the way here?

"There's a shoe shop just down the street from it. Trust me, I'll find it."

Not only did the little bakery they found have a broad assortment of breads and pastries, but they had a small selection of meats as well, for luncheons. With Italy just a short train ride away the prosciutto and various salamis were marvelous. They sat in the small square just outside the bakery, and nibbled on the meats and bread. A shared sweet roll passed for afters, and they were on their way again. Lavender indeed found the little shoe shop, and Seamus reluctantly parted with the rather steep price for the red pumps she wanted. She did promise him that he would view the shoes in an entirely different light after she wore them for him that evening.

The business district of Nantua was fairly small, and they had no trouble finding the "Angelic Coffee House" among the restaurants and ski outfitters on the high street. They noted its location, and with that out of the way went on to look for the place where the children could be held. The initial reconnaissance revealed that they were not being held in Nantua. There was just too much tourist traffic and general hustle and bustle to hide an operation of that kind. But in questioning one of the local gendarmes, who would never remember the conversation, they had found that in the nearby village of Charix one of the older chateaux had been turned into a kind of compound. The local law enforcement suspected something was going on there, but they had no evidence, and therefore could not proceed any farther.

"Ahh, sure and we'll find out for you then," Seamus had told the officer just before he took the memory. "If it's who we think it is you'll be very happy you talked to us, me lad."

"Off to Charix?" Lavender asked as they stepped out of the police station.

Seamus considered her for a moment. "Yeah, but let's do a glamour on you at least so you're not familiar to anyone when you go back as Selene.

She smiled. "Good idea, and let's take a cab up. The more we act like Muggles the less attention they'll pay to us."

They ducked into an alleyway and Apparated back to their room at the hotel. After working out what Lavender would look like, Seamus performed the charms. In minutes Pansy Parkinson was staring out from under Katie Bell's hair.

"Next time I see Pan I'll have to tell her she should let her hair grow out. This looks great," Lavender said. "She's always kept it in that bob she wore in school. It's easy to take care of that way, but not as flattering as it would be if it was long like this."

"I still can't get over how much she changed. What'd you guys do, spell a new personality into her?" Seamus asked.

Lavender smiled. "No, my love, we just showed her the difference between right and wrong. You know I could keep this up for a while tonight," she said, with her mischievous grin on Pansy's face.

"I like making love to me wife, there's no one more beautiful to me than her," Seamus said, looking deep in her eyes.

"Well then, let's get this recon trip out of the way Mr. Finnigan," she said in her commanding voice.

He laughed. "Absolutely Mrs. Finnigan; I'll call a cab."

-~####

Director LaBeau led her through the old chateau. As they passed from room to room Lavender noted the defenses. The entry way let into a series of rooms. There had been no central hall like there was in most English mansions, just rooms that led from one to another. They had taken a door out of the lounge that they had been in, through a sitting room, a reading room, one that looked like perhaps it was a game room, and then to what was obviously a dining room for the children. A long table sat in the middle of the room, and chairs of varying heights sat next to it. The room was plain save for the row of windows on one long wall, and an old buffet against the opposite wall. There were two tall chairs next to the doors that led out. One for the kitchen, Lavender surmised, and one to the barracks. The director went to one of the doors and pulled a ring of keys from his pocket.

"They are of course guarded, but we keep these locked in case there is a problem. I'm sure you understand," he said to her.

_How shall I kill you? Let's see, rip your throat out? Take your head? Eviscerate you_? she thought as she smiled sweetly at him. "Of course," she said.

"In your request from Alfred we noticed you asked for a magical child. Does it matter what sex?" Director LaBeau asked as he unlocked the door.

Lavender raised an eyebrow. "Not in the least. You have one?"

He practically clapped his hands in glee, and he turned to face her. "Yes mademoiselle. Just this month we acquired a girl from Sweden. She speaks English well enough and is quite pretty. In the neighborhood of eight or nine, I believe." He turned to the door and swung it open. A flight of stairs greeted them. "As you can imagine, the price for her will be substantial."

Lavender was thankful his back was turned because her wolfself pushed forward in a fury, and she was sure it would have been visible. _Not yet, my sweet. Just wait a little bit longer._ She cleared her throat so the next thing she said didn't come out as a growl. "And my other requests?" she said.

"Oh those are easy," replied the director as he began to ascend the stairs. "We always have plenty on hand. It's really so simple. Except for Britain and the U.S., acquisition is a small matter. The most difficult part is typically transport. The master does some, but only when necessary, and that service is… how do you English put it? Oh yes, quite dear."

"I can imagine," Lavender said. "As you might have surmised, I'll be taking care of my own transport."

They reached a landing at the top of the stairs, and the director knocked three times. "Director LaBeau with a client," he said to the door. There was the sound of locks being unlatched, and the door swung open to reveal a heavily armed Muggle guard.

"Welcome to our sales floor, Mademoiselle Wolfe."

-~####

Charix was small. It reminded Lavender of Seamus's home town of Cill Fhion'ian, just a collection of houses surrounding a small town square with a few shops. Seamus paid the driver and asked if he would be available in a few hours to drive them back to Nantua. After a quick bargaining session the driver agreed that two hundred euros would be a sufficient reservation fee.

"He'll be at the pub," Seamus told Lavender. "Hope he's sober enough to drive us back."

"Bistro, Shay," she said, rolling her eyes. "God, you're such an Irishman."

"Aye, and you love me for it too," he said in full brogue, with a wink.

Lavender couldn't help but laugh. She loved this man, and his sense of humor was one of the many reasons. "Alright Mr. Irish, lets see if we can find this place."

"As me lady wishes," he said, with a smile and a bow.

The search was short. The first try was the local greengrocer, and after chatting with the assistant for a few minutes they found that he did a weekly delivery to a large chateau just south of the little village. He was disturbed by the seeming hostility of the residents of the place. Guards met him at the gates, and would unload the fruits, vegetables, and dry goods from his little three wheeled delivery scooter. Then they would shoo him on his way. What concerned him was that some of the dry goods consisted of children's breakfast cereal, and he never saw any children. Lavender thanked him for his directions to the place, and then swept the memory of the two of them from his mind.

They bought a small package of pears, apples, and grapes from the man, and a bottle of wine and some cheese from the shop next door. Armed with the small picnic, they made their way out of the little village and up into the foothills overlooking the town. After about an hour they were standing on a hill with a perfect view of the chateau. The sun hung low in the late September sky as Lavender drew a large blanket from her bag. She spread it on the ground while Seamus cast a series of concealment charms.

"Think it's them?" he asked.

Lavender considered the chateau. "Full fence, guards at the gate, deliveries of kids' food, and no kids in sight. No play equipment, no bikes, yeah, it's a pretty good bet this is them."

"Well, this'll be one of the nicer stakeouts we've been on," he said as he pulled two wine glasses from his satchel and set them on the blanket. "Beats the shit out of that castle in Scotland we had to watch. Blimey that was bloody awful."

Lavender snuggled up to him. "As I recall we had a great deal of fun warming back up."

Seamus smiled at the memory. "Okay, it wasn't all bad, but it was arse numbing cold and wet," he said, and he pulled the cork from the wine with a wave of his wand. The bottle tipped and filled the two glasses. The glasses floated over to them and Lavender picked hers out of the air.

"I've had more great wine on this assignment than I've had in years," she said as she gazed through blood red liquid. "Even an average bottle from around here is special. What did he say this was?"

Seamus assumed a fake French accent that Lavender found hysterical considering his already pronounced Irish accent. "Ahh, mademoiselle, these is a very fine vintage from a local winery. Only the luckiest of the tourists get to taste these."

As long as Seamus lived he would never tire of hearing Lavender laugh. She laughed unabashedly, starting with a titter that moved on to squeaks as it took hold, and then full on guffaws. He was never prouder of himself than when he was able to make her snort.

"I think they'd shoot you, or maybe themselves, if they heard how badly you massacre French," she said as she regained her composure. She took a sip. "He was right, though, this is very good. Not as good as that bottle Hermione and I shared two weeks ago, but very good."

"Is it?" he said with a shrug. "You're the one with the nose, I can never tell. As long as it's not bitter or sour I'm good."

"Cretin," she said with a smile.

"Aye, me love, and you can't help but love me anyway, can you?"

"More than you can imagine, Seamus Finnigan," she said, and they settled back, sipped some wine, ate some fruit and cheese, and watched the chateau.

Very little happened that day. The next morning they Apparated directly to their stakeout position and within moments they had confirmation that they were on the right trail. Shortly after seven-thirty a large woman led a group of young children from a side door out into an area within the fence surrounding the chateau. Four men with dogs took up positions away from the kids, but close enough to make sure the children knew where they were.

"They'll be in for a surprise," Lavender said, indicating the dog handlers.

Seamus chuckled. "I still remember the first time I saw you stare down a guard dog. How'd you learn to do that?"

"There was no learning to it, it's part of the whole package. Dogs just do what I tell them to." A feral grin spread on her face. "To them I'm _The_ alpha female."

"Even after twenty years, I still get to learn something new about you," he said, with genuine love in his voice.

They watched as the woman they christened 'the matron' made the children run a few laps around the yard and then do some exercises. After that she let them do what they wanted for about ten minutes, then she ushered them back into the building. The same thing happened an hour later with a group of older kids. There were three more dog handlers with this group and Seamus took note of a few of the older boys. When the time came, he'd put them to work.

The process repeated at three in the afternoon. Then a shift change took place at five, and the day crew that guarded the gates and patrolled the fence was replaced.

"Looks like twelve hour shifts," Seamus said, and huffed. "Where'd they find guys that'd work for twelve straight hours?"

Lavender shrugged. "Times are tough. The Muggles are still dealing with the global depression. It's only got better for them in the last year or so," — she shook her head — "so it probably wasn't that hard finding people to do this kind of work." Her voice became fierce. "Bad career choice though."

Seamus smirked and nodded.

At ten P.M. the lights went out all over the compound except for the ones on the gate and the perimeter fence.

"Guess that's a day. Do you want to come back for one more tomorrow?" Lavender asked Seamus.

He nodded. "Yeah, I want to make sure I can recognize the players, and see if they beef up the levels when they know you're coming."

-~####

The guard backed up into a small office-like area at the top of the stairs, and sat in a chair next to a window that looked into a large common room. Another door led into the common room, and small groups of children sat at tables in the room playing games, drawing, and reading. There were doors lining the walls of the room, and Lavender could see through some of the open doors that these were the children's bedrooms.

The director looked to the guard. "Inspection, Petar."

The guard nodded, stepped to the desk and pressed a button mounted on a small square wooden plate. A chime sounded in the room with the children; they rose from their seats and made their way to their assigned rooms.

When the last of the children had entered their rooms a series of loud clacks sounded as heavy bolts shot home into the locks on the doors.

"For your safety, mademoiselle," Director Labeau said. They stepped into the common room and he motioned to a small window looking into one of the rooms. "Now your first request was for a girl, aged eight to ten, blonde, with passable French. We have two. First there is Genevieve." He indicated a pretty blonde girl sitting on a bed in the first room. He ushered Lavender from room to room, showing her the children that fitted her request list. As he did so, she planned her attack.


	3. Retribution

Professor Finnigan

Part 1

Rescue

Chapter 3

Retribution

Lavender could barely contain herself; her wolf half was pacing within her. _A moment more, my sweet, and then we play._ "This is the extent of your offerings."

"At this time, Mademoiselle Wolfe, yes," the Director said.

"Excellent, and my name isn't Wolfe." She leveled a fierce grin at him that made the Director back up a few paces. "It's Brown."

"Brown?" he said. She could see the wheels turning in his head.

"Lavender Brown." _Now, my sweet. _Her eyes faded from green to gold. The transition had become easy over the years, especially when she was angry, and she was _very_ angry. Director LaBeau paled, and his eyes widened in horror as Lavender began to transform. Frozen by fear and awe, he stared in amazement as before him the petite blond woman changed into her immensely strong and fearsome werewolf form in a matter of seconds. "Merde," he whispered, and Lavender stepped forward. Leading with her claws, she plunged her right arm into him, ripping his still beating heart from his chest.

"Fuck you, you heartless bastard," she growled, and as he crumpled to the floor her hand tightened, crushing the offending organ in her fist. She cast it aside and spun on the spot, whipping her wand from its holster. There was a commotion from the room at the top of the stairs, and the guard appeared at the door. Lavender bisected him with a _Sectumsempra._ "You're not half the man you used to be, Petar," she muttered, and then flicked her wand at her robes on the floor. They rose into the air, folded themselves, and slid into her bag. She slung the satchel around her and tucked it into position under her arm. Pointing her wand at the corpses on the floor she banished them into nonexistence.

Lavender pondered the doors for a moment. "_Relashio,"_ she shouted, sweeping her wand down the wall, and the cell doors shattered. "I am Lavender Brown, protector of children. To me young ones! To me!" she cried. The girl, Carina, whom the director had pointed out as the magical child, emerged from one of the doorways leading a smaller girl by the hand. "Come, come," she said to the younger child. "I know of her, she will help."

Lavender knelt and gestured for them to join her. "Come child, I won't hurt you; I'm here to save you."

Carina strode bravely up to her. "Be du Den God Vargen?" she asked, and Lavender looked to her puzzled. "You're really her, Lavender the Good Wolf, aren't you?" she asked again, in a thick Swedish accent.

_Thank you, Hermione._ Lavender thought. Since Hermione had written the little children's book, "The Good Wolf", Lavender had become a kind of celebrity among the children of the magical world. That little book, that told the story of Lavender Brown, was known to practically every magical child in the world, and they loved her.

Lavender smiled at her, showing her rows of razor sharp teeth. "Yes, child, I am. Shall we go?" The smaller girl took Lavender's hand, and she hoisted the child onto her left hip to free her wand arm. The other children, seeing her with the girls, ran forward and swarmed around her

"My name is Carina. I knew you would come," she said proudly. "I dreamt it!"

"You have the gift of sight, do you?" Lavender said, smiling.

Carina smiled broadly. "Mamma says it runs in our family."

Lavender nodded. "Mine too. Behind me then," she said, and handed the girl she was holding to one of the older girls. "Be good," she told her, and turned to her charges. "Take care of the small ones." She looked at one of the teenage boys. "Don't let them fall behind." He nodded, still stunned at what he was seeing. A large, talking werewolf, her right arm dripping blood and holding a wand, was leading them to a freedom they had thought lost. "We're leaving"- she looked around at the children- "now," she said, and strode down the aisle between the tables with a mob of children in her wake.

A pair of guards rounded the corner of the office door into the common room. They were momentarily dazed by what they were seeing, then raised their weapons. Lavender, in her training, had been shown and had had demonstrated to her every type of Muggle weaponry. These she recognized as submachine guns. A quick shield charm and they were firing bullets into what appeared to be clear molasses. As she advanced she pushed the shield charm forward until the men were pressed against the wall. With a practiced flick of her wand the charm winked out of existence, and the bullets clattered to the floor. The men continued to pull the triggers on their guns, but they had emptied them into the shield.

"'Click' is a bit anticlimactic, don't you think?" she said, snarling in their faces. One man fainted dead away, the other raised his gun and tried to use it like a club. "Such a bad plan," she growled through her teeth, and shoved him into the wall so hard there was the sickening crunch of breaking bones. Lavender shook her head as the guard slid down the wall leaving a smear of blood. She stunned the man who had fainted, for good measure, erected her shield again, and walked behind it through the office to the stairwell. No one was there, and she led the group carefully down the stairs. When they reached the landing, they could hear the sounds of many men preparing to meet them on the other side of the door to the dining room.

_Good, let's give them a moment, my sweet. Let them all gather right there. _Lavender turned to the children and motioned for them to be quiet. After a moment she heard the sound of someone trying the door._ "Conflagio!" _she cried. The door to the room was blasted from its hinges as a column of fire erupted from her wand. The dining room became an inferno. "Picked the wrong bloody team, didn't you?" she yelled into the room of dying men.

-~####

Seamus saw the explosion before he heard it. Several flaming bodies, and parts of bodies, flew from a row of windows on the north side of the chateau. Fire erupted from the windows, and then faded. _Suppose that's the signal, eh, love? _he thought with a chuckle, and pressed the tip of his wand to the Galleon on the chain around his neck. "Now," he said. A few seconds later there was the snap of Apparition, and Ron Weasley and Cal U-Daily were standing a few yards away. Seamus waved and said, "Let's go." He started running down the hill to the chateau.

They paused behind a tree to survey the path ahead of them. "So, Cal," Seamus said, "how'd that Auror exchange program be working out for you?"

He looked to Seamus with a small grin. "Good," he said in his West African French accent, "although I am often surprised at how little you English plan, sometimes. You 'improvise', as Mr. Potter says, far more often than we would in the African Administration."

Ron had just slid up beside them. "Welcome to Dumbledore's Army, mate," he said, with a grin and a wink to Seamus, and they were off again.

A man was dashing toward them, and slid to a stop as they stepped from the trees. His expression became blank, and in a monotone voice he said, "Lavender says let me go." Then he shook his head and looked toward the three men, bemused.

"What'd be your name, lad?" Seamus asked.

"Claude."

"Well, Claude, why don't you scurry on home, and do what it was Lavender told you to do," Seamus said with a smile.

Claude turned and hurried away down a path through the trees. "There's a good lad," Seamus said, and he, Ron and Cal ran toward the gates to the compound.

-~####

"_Aguamenti!"_ Lavender shouted above the roar of the fire, and a forceful spray of water doused the flames in the dining room. She stepped through the remains of the door, and used a repulsion charm to clear a path through the wreckage and the bodies to the door on the opposite side of the room. Nodding to herself she turned to her charges. "There's things here you don't need to see. I'm going to cast a charm on you so the only thing you will see will be me and the floor in front of you while we pass through this room, alright?"

The children quietly agreed.

"Good. _Obscura,_" she said as she waved her wand over them. The charm hid the horror of the room from their eyes, but not the smell. Several of the younger ones were retching by the time they made it to the games room. Lavender cast an air-freshening charm and lifted the _Obscura_. She erected her shield, and strode quickly through the remaining rooms to the entry hall. The 'matron' rounded a corner, and before she realized what was happening, Lavender was upon her.

"You knew what would happen to these children, didn't you, you bitch?" Lavender indicated the children with her right hand while she hoisted the woman off the floor by the throat with the left. She flicked her wand over her shoulder, and an opaque bubble formed around the children. "You knew where they'd be sent, what they'd be made to do?" Her grip tightened; panic and pain flared in the woman's eyes, and Lavender's voice descended into a snarl. "You played on their emotions, yes." She nodded to herself with a far away look in her eyes. The woman was flailing wildly, pummeling Lavender with her feet and hands, but she hardly felt it. "You made them trust you, love you even." Lavender's focus returned in full force. She pushed the struggling woman against the wall and leaned into her, her face inches from the matron's. "You were a woman! How could you?" she said with open contempt. A growl of pure fury escaped her, and she crushed the matron's throat. A font of blood shot from the woman's mouth, covering the fur on her left side. Lavender sneered in disgust, and with all her strength and pent up rage, she chucked the corpse through the nearest window. With a flick of her wand the bubble over the children winked out of existence.

An older boy looked to Lavender. "Where did Nurse Constance go?" he asked in a slightly amused voice, clearly noticing all the new blood on Lavender's fur.

Lavender met his eyes. "She's getting some fresh air."

The boy grinned and nodded.

-~####

A body flew through a window near the doors as Seamus, Ron, and Cal ran up to the chateau. Seamus waved his wand at the doors; they flew from their hinges, and landed with a crash on either side of the men. The three of them charged into the entry hall and were greeted by the sight of Lavender, her fur spattered with blood, with a large group of children behind her.

"Is any of that yours?' Seamus asked, indicating her scarlet fur.

She looked at him askance, and in a slightly offended tone said, "No."

"Just checking, Love," he said with a broad smile, and then turned to the children. "I see you've met me lovely wife."

Lavender stroked her hand down the side of Seamus's face. "Are the Apparition wards still up?"

Seamus made an attempt, and nothing happened. "Seems so, love."

Lavender nodded. "Can you and the boys take the kids to safety? I need to find this 'Master' fellow." At Seamus's questioning look she said, "That's what they call the wizard in charge of all this."

"Can you wait for me?" Seamus asked, concern evident in his voice.

"We can't let him get away and start this all up again. It ends here, tonight, Shay." She looked at him in a way that he knew meant there would be no discussion. "Send Ron and Cal on to St. Mungo's with the kids, then come back and find me." She turned to the children. "Okay, gang, these guys are going to take you somewhere safe, and then we'll get you back to your families. I'm going to see the man who runs this place."

A teenage girl dressed in a sari spoke up. "Are you going to kill him?" Her accent was pure New Delhi.

Lavender looked her in the eye. "Very likely," she said in a snarl.

The girl smiled grimly. "Good. Thank you."

Ron stepped to Lavender's side. "You sure you don't want us to stay and help? This bloke is evil, Lavender. You shouldn't do this alone."

Lavender patted his hand. "Touching. No, Shay will find me." She held up her hand and indicated her wedding ring. "You two take them to St. Mungo's. We'll be along shortly."

Ron snorted. "Real 'take charge girl' you are."

"You don't know the half of it, mate," Seamus said grinning, "you really don't. Alright kids, let's get you lot out o' here. Follow me."

The magical girl, Carina, took Lavender's hand. "Be careful, I dreamt you get hurt."

Lavender knelt next to her, and laid a hand on her shoulder. "I'm pretty tough, Carina. You go with Ron and Cal. I'll see you soon."

Carina hugged her with all her strength. "Thank you, God Vargen."

Lavender hugged her back, not quite as hard. "You're very welcome, now go with Ron, Seamus, and Cal, and be good." She looked sternly to the group. "That goes for all of you."

Seamus took Lavender's hand as she rose. "Be careful, love. I'll be along shortly." He turned to go. "Come on then," he said to the crowd.

The children followed the men from the chateau, and Lavender turned from the doorway to seek her prey.

Seamus led the group out of the compound, and past the gates. Digging into his satchel, he produced a twenty-foot-long rope. "Everybody grab hold of this, and hang on until Ron here says to let go."

The children did as he instructed. Seamus walked around the group, making sure the older kids minded the younger ones. He pointed his wand at the rope and said, "Saint Mungo's."

Ron looked at Seamus. "We've got it from here, mate. You go and help Lavender." He turned to the children. "Okay you little snappers; get ready for the ride of your life. One, two, three…" He tapped his wand on the rope. The whole group spun up into the air and winked out of existence.


	4. Fate

Rescue

Chapter 4

Fate

Lavender stalked through the deserted rooms of the chateau, scenting the air. True to her training, she cast the _Homonium Revealo_ before entering a room, and then _Finite Incantatum_ as she went in. She encountered the master-less guard dogs in a room that had been converted to a kennel. The door to the outside was open, and Lavender could still smell the scent of the two men that had been there. "They buggered off!" she laughed. "Probably couldn't even get you out, could they?" she asked the dogs after she released them. It wasn't quite what Harry had described parseltongue as being like, but it was a language all its own. A combination of body language, barks, whimpers, whines, and scents made up the speech of the canine, and Lavender was fluent in it.

They swarmed around her, wagging tails and licking her hands. "You smelled me, didn't you?" she said kindly. _Yes, mistress,_ came the reply. _They were afraid, and we refused to obey. _Lavender stroked her hand over the head of the alpha male. "You have not been well used; I have a new command for you." Her ability to control canines still amazed her. She told them to, "be good dogs, go and find those men. You can explain to them how wrong they were. After that, find yourselves families and guard the pups." A wicked smile lit her face. "Now go, go my pretties," she cried, laughed, and then sent them into the hills.

Her senses were on full alert, and as she cleared the last room on the ground floor, she came to another stairwell leading up. A scent struck her and raised her hackles. _Kill it,_ her wolfself screamed. She had never come across a scent that provoked such a response, and it intrigued her. _We will, my sweet, we will, but what is it has your knickers in such a twist?_

Cautiously, scanning the stairwell every few steps, she climbed the stairs. When she came to a landing leading to a doorway onto the second floor she cast a dissolution charm over herself. Lavender gently swung the door open and stepped out onto the second floor. She found herself in an anteroom that appeared to lead to several other rooms. A few statues lined the walls and between them stood doors, five in all. A thin, black haired, woman, dressed in black robes was leaning against one of the statues.

Good evening, Lyra," the woman said. Her voice had a strange quality, powerful but distant. "Yes, I can see you."

"My name is Selene," answered Lavender warily. Her wolf-sense was indifferent to this woman. She wasn't the source of the scent that so disturbed her wolf half, and Lavender could smell no fear from her; in fact she couldn't smell her at all.

"This time your name is Lavender." The woman replied, smiling. "But you were Lyra first, and that's what I'll always know you as."

"We've met?" Lavender said in a questioning tone. "I don't remember you."

The woman's eyes twinkled. "Mortals never do. Lower your wand, will you. You can't hurt me, and I am actually your friend."

"Who are you?" Lavender asked, not lowering her wand.

"Oh, I have a great many names. You first knew me as Thanata, but that's not important. What lies beyond this door" — she gestured to the one on her right— "is the werewolves' greatest enemy. They can usually defeat a werewolf, but you're different. You're sentient, and that gives you the advantage. Use it well."

"Why are you here?"

"Oh, I'm not here for you," the woman said with a grin. "I've collected a few tonight, but Atropos tells me that there are more to come, and I always like watching you work."

"Who are you?" she said more forcefully.

Thanata laughed. "You'll figure it out soon enough. Here's a hint, cats and dogs can sometimes see me while I'm working, werewolves too, but they are usually rendered dull by the curse." She looked thoughtful for a moment, and then leaned forward. "Do you know how the werewolf came to be, Lyra?"

"No, and I don't really have time…"

"You're always in such a hurry," Thanata said, and shook her head. "Yes you do, and you should know your own story." She straightened and Lavender sensed immense power flowing from the woman. "I am not bound by time, and when you're with me neither are you. It's time you knew… past time. I should have contacted you years ago." She shrugged. "Ah, well, nobody's perfect. Here, let me tell you the tale." Lavender was swept into darkness.

Visions started to appear before her. An island city took form in the void, and Thanata's voice sounded around her. "This was Atlantis, a city of wizards." It was beautiful. Spires hundreds of feet tall crowned the city; its streets were lined with opulent palaces and mansions, and its wealth and power were obvious. "The great wizard, Lycan, was their king, and his greatest pleasure was in exploring and expanding the limits of his power. He was the first to Apparate, the first to fly, and the first Animagus. He was brilliant, but like most men of ambition, he was a fool."

The vision of the island dissolved and in its place was a vision of the inside of a magnificent palace. A young girl of perhaps fifteen ran through the great room before Lavender. "Lycan's wife died in childbirth giving him his daughter, and he loved the girl more than all his treasure and power combined, but then one day he made a horrible mistake. Lycan's Animagus form was that of the wolf, and he reveled in it, but he wanted more. He wanted the wolf's sense of smell, of sight, of hearing, and most of all he wanted that special sense; the one that tells them who is friend, who is foe, and when danger is near. To that end he called upon Loki, the trickster god, whose totem was the wolf, and he beseeched the god to grant him that power."

The vision changed again. A man in beautiful azure and gold robes stood on a hilltop. Great waves of magic swirled around him, and he raised his voice in a triumphant incantation. "Great god, Loki, father of Fenrir, I call upon you. Grant me the power of the wolf, the sight, the scent, the ways of wolf knowledge. Give me the power to hunt in the moonlight without bow and blade. Give to me the power of your totem, I demand it."

Arrogant laughter filled the air. "Though I be chained, your petition will be granted still," a voice boomed. "For the three nights of the full moon you will know the power you demand. I bestow upon you a portion of myself. You will have the talents of the wolf you so desire; you will have the strength of many men, and you will know the curse." The god laughed louder still.

The mountain top disappeared, and Lycan was standing in his chambers. Lavender recognized his agony; he was in the throws of the change. "Lycan became a werewolf the next night. As he changed, his mind fell away and he became the beast." Lavender now overlooked a street in the city, and the werewolf was raging among the throng. He tore through them in full bloodlust, killing some, maiming others. The scene changed again, and Lycan was on his knees in his chambers. He wept as he held the wounded form of his daughter.

He shouted to the heavens. "You deceived me! You gave me the power and took my mind!" He held the faintly stirring girl to his chest. "I have destroyed our city, our civilization, my daughter. You've won."

The scene changed; it was another night of the full moon, and the streets of the city ran with blood. Werewolves were everywhere. Thanata's voice carried over the cries of terror and the howls of the wolves. "For months the nights of the full moon reigned horror on the city. In a short time the entire population of the city was turned or killed, and they despaired. Lycan was driven to make a new bargain."

They were on the mountain top again. "You must take the city. Destroy it." Lycan fell to his knees. "You must take us into legend with you, but I would ask one thing in exchange. Spare my daughter. Lift the curse and let her live. Please, you have taken everything from us. Leave me this one hope." He shook with grief on the rocks.

A soft feminine voice came from the air around him. "We will grant this to you, but our bargain is thus, she will remain the wolf, but she will keep her mind. In all her future lives she will be our agent, our champion. Her thread will be sewn into the fabric of reality when she is needed. This we promise."

Darkness descended. "Lycan took his daughter from the island and secreted her away in a village. When he returned to the city he cast the great spell of annihilation, and the island was destroyed. All the people perished, all but one, for Loki is not so easily thwarted. This one lone survivor was transported by the currents and the wind to land, and with him he carried the curse. Lyra grew to be the protector and guardian of justice in the valley where she lived. She would travel to far lands to help people in danger, and my friends, the fates, were pleased."

Lavender was back in the room of statuary with the woman in black. "And so you have returned from time to time, Lyra. Always a way was found to keep the beast at bay for you. Always you have been the paladin, the protector. Your lives have been hard, but the rewards of those lives have been great, and this one is the same."

Lavender was staggered. "I was always meant to be the wolf? I had no choice?"

Thanata smiled. "No, that part of your life was determined long ago. But when you look back, do you regret it? The things you have done? The lives you have saved and changed?"

Lavender thought for a moment. "No."

"And you never have, Lyra, you never have."

"Why show me all this now?" Lavender asked.

"I don't… can't really interfere in Lachesis's plans," Thanata said, "but you at least I can talk to, and we've always enjoyed each other's company." She rolled her eyes. "The immortals are boring." She leaned in to Lavender. "Be careful, Lyra. He's very dangerous, old, and skilled. He has killed many werewolves, but he doesn't know you. That's all I can say." She smiled. "Till we meet again," she said, and she faded into nothingness.

Lavender was rocked. He mind was buzzing with all the new information. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. _Calm,_ she thought._ Master Po would tell you 'think in the now, the future will take care of itself'. Hermione will help you sort this out._ She opened her eyes, and smiled her toothy grin. _So my adversary kills werewolves, does he? He'll think I'm just like one of them… alright._ She stowed her wand in its holster, and opened the door.

The room was a combination of office and suite. A large, ornate, wooden desk stood opposite the door she was standing in and another door led off to what looked like a bedroom. A man sat at the desk. _Kill it; KILL IT; __**KILL IT,**_ her wolfself screamed as his scent overwhelmed her. _Calm, my sweet. We will._

She felt the dissolution charm break as she crossed the threshold.

"You're the one causing all the trouble?" the man said, incredulous, "A common werewolf?"

_You just keep thinking that. _She let out a feral growl as she began circling sideways along the wall towards the man.

"The master is very angry; you've cost him a great deal. Perhaps your head will make an appropriate trophy," he said as he stood.

_Your move, arsehole._

The man leapt over the desk and disappeared in a cloud of vapor. Lavender dropped to her knee and rolled to her right side as he reappeared next to her on her left. His hand grazed along her shoulder, and the sickle-like nails on the ends of his fingers cut groves in her skin under her fur. He bared his teeth showing his fangs as he roared in displeasure at missing her.

_Fucking vampire! Oh, you are done._ She let out a howl, faking pain. She'd had worse. Vampire… Lavender had never encountered one before. Werewolves were rare enough but vampires were even more unusual. She had done some research on them, and decided they were not the purest of creatures. Becoming a werewolf was an act of violation and violence, becoming a vampire was an act of greed and submission. You had to want to be one.

"I'll have you, you bitch," the vampire yelled, and partially Disapparated again.

Lavender leapt high and to the left, the vampire appeared on her right a few feet away. _Are you really that predictable?_ She thought, and leapt forward as he Disapparated again. She was at the desk, and in one swift movement, she picked it up off the floor and leveled the vampire with a vicious swat as he re-Apparated on her right again. The desk shattered into pieces as she crushed him between it and the wall.

"What are you?" he screamed as he tore the desk pieces from himself, and leapt at her again. She caught him by the throat.

"Your doom," she growled in his face. His eyes widened when he saw a leg from the desk was in her hand. Lavender shoved it completely through his chest. The vampire withered until his skin resembled a dried up autumn leaf, and then he dissolved into dust.

"Fuck. You." She slowly spat at the pile of dust. The desk leg dropped from her hand with a clatter, and she flexed her shoulder. _Ouch, hmm, new scar. Shay'll be taking the mickey for that._ Lavender cast the healing charm on the cuts to her shoulder. _Well, my sweet, we've met the business director, and the major domo, time to find this 'Master' fellow and give him our regards. And it's time for you to find me, Shay. _She held her left hand to her mouth and kissed her ring.

-~####

A wave of warmth went through Seamus's hand, and a steady pulse started beating in the ring on his finger. He held his hand out and turned in a circle. The pulse beat was strongest when he faced a door that lead south out of the room he was in. "On my way, love," he said, and quickly made his way from the room.


	5. Rescue

Rescue

Chapter 5

Rescue

Lavender opened the door behind where the desk had been. The room was bare, except for two doors and the bodies hanging from the walls. Several men and women who appeared to be in their late teens and early twenties hung from leather straps on hooks driven into the walls. Their clothes hung in blood stained tatters; the vampire had been feeding on them. As Lavender approached, one of the girls opened her eyes and tried to scream, but all that came out was a weak squeak.

"Shh, shh," Lavender said and brushed her hand down the girl's cheek. "He's dead" — she smirked and rolled her eyes — "er, and I'm getting you out of here." A quick flick of her wand, and the strap was cut. The girl crumpled into her arms. "Can you stand?" Lavender asked.

"I can fly if I have to," the girl answered, in a German accent.

Lavender looked at her sternly. "Has he turned you?" she said in a low voice.

"Nein. He just uses us until we dry up, and then he kills us," the girl said, and started to cry. "He told me I was to be next, he killed Marie just last week."

Lavender drew the girl into a hug. "Well you don't have to worry about that now," she said quietly. "Help me get the others down." One by one they quickly lowered the other four to the floor. _"Rennervate,"_ she said, waving her wand over the weak figures lying on the carpet, bathing them in a red light.

They began to stir and then, when they saw Lavender, they backed away in fright.

"It's alright," the girl said to them. "She's freeing us."

Lavender addressed the group. "I have to find 'the Master'. Do you think you can make it out of the house?"

They all nodded. One boy spoke up. "I think I can carry one if I need to."

Lavender smiled. "Good. Go out through the office, down the stairs, and out of the compound as fast as you can." She waved her wand at them, and their clothes repaired themselves. "Get in to Charix, and go the police. This place will probably be razed by then. Go on and tell them what happened, although you might want to skip the part about me, the vampire, and this Master fellow," she said with a wink. "You'll probably meet my husband on the way out. Tell him where I am, would you?"

"Be careful," the girl she had freed first said. "He's old, but he's very powerful. They were all afraid of him, even the vampire."

"Yes, well he's never met someone like me," Lavender said with a grin, and then she cocked her head to the side as the light of realization lit her face. "And she's not here for me anyway." She chuckled at the girl's puzzled look. "Get going."

The teens half stumbled, half ran from the room, and Lavender turned to the other doors. One opened into a series of rooms that was obviously the vampire's chambers, the other door opened into a short hallway. A few doors were on the side walls, but Lavender headed straight for the large double doors at the end. _In there, that's where he'll be._ She paused at the doors, dug into her bag, and brought out a small pouch. _Alright, boys, let's see how useful this is. _Stepping to the side of the doors, she waved her wand at them and silently did the opening charm.

"Oh, do come in," said a voice from the room. "You've caused such a commotion, killed my staff, scattered my inventory… killed my pet. I want to know who you are before I pay you back."

Her senses were prickling as she crossed into what appeared to be a converted ballroom. The old stage was still in the far end, but this was obviously a wizard's lair. Several tables were arranged willy-nilly about the room. A large cauldron sat on one, and next to it were dozens of bottles of variously colored liquids. Lavender quickly memorized the layout of the room, and slid along the wall to her left. The occupant of the room was still a mystery. She could smell him, but she couldn't see him yet.

"Hmm, you're different," he said. "You have your wits about you, but you're not on the potion." She could detect more than a hint of northern European in his accent. "Not weak, mild, sick." He had cast a charm so that his voice was coming from everywhere and nowhere. "Yes, I know who you are," he said, his tone one of realization, and a hint of respect. "You're Lavender Brown. I've been expecting you."

Lavender risked speaking. "Have you?"

There was a laugh. "Oh, yes. I suspected that sooner or later my peculiar business might draw your attention. You do have a reputation, you know."

_They just can't help themselves. Talk, talk, talk, when will these guys learn to shut the hell up?_ she thought. _Alright, Master Ding, _she smiled to herself,_ it's the finding the hidden enemy exercise._ She scanned the area of the room nearest her with all her senses.

"Oh come now, we can have a civilized conversation before I kill you." His voice exuded confidence. "You can't hide from me here."

_Nor you from me;_ "_Finite Incantatem!" _she cried, and swept the room with her wand. The dissolution charm rippled out of existence forty feet from where she stood, and an old man shimmered into visibility in the middle of the room. He looked surprised for a moment, and then he erected his shield. The stunning spell that she had followed the _Finite_ charm with ricocheted off of it. _Never stay still. Never move in a pattern. Never let your opponent know where you will be next, _Master Po had taught her. She fired spell after spell, unrelenting, always on the move. He countered and attacked with a fervor that belied his obvious advanced age.

She could see a delighted grin on the old man's face. "Excellent! I haven't faced an opponent with this much skill in decades," he said. He was Disapparating and re-Apparating around the room. Lavender tried but could not. "No, only I can Apparate here. _Avada Kedavra!"_

The green flash missed her by inches as she dove to the side. She tossed the package in her hand into the air and tagged it with a _Reducto._

"Sauce for the goose," she said, and the room was consumed in darkness.

"Interesting." His voice sounded in the inky blackness. "What is this?"

Lavender didn't answer. Silently she moved to the center of the room, and then levitated two tables and several chairs from their positions. In her mind's eye she could see the layout of the room perfectly, with the chairs and tables in their new position, and her standing on a chair in the middle of the room. The only thing missing was the location of the old man.

"_Finite Incantatem,"_ he said. "Hmm, not a spell."

_No, try again, _she thought.

"_Tergeo!"_ he said. The darkness began to evaporate around her

"_Geminio,"_ she countered, and the darkness reformed. _Check._

"Clever. So it's a dust of some kind. Well I'll just…" And there it was, to her right and thirty feet away, the scrape of a table leg as he bumped against it.

"_Incendio!"_ she shouted, and a column of fire leapt from her wand into the darkness.

"Argh, Bitch!"

"_Peruvia Finite!"_ she said, and the darkness dispelled. Lavender was already in motion toward the place where she had heard him. As she bounded toward the man he attempted to Disapparate. "No you don't," she said, and she did something she had only done twice before. Her teeth sank deeply into the old man's thigh.

His Disapparation failed and her momentum carried them across the room and into a wall. In the midst of it Lavender felt the curse flow from her into the man. It was part of the pleasure of the bite, the taste of human blood, the cries of pain, and the sensation of elation at passing the curse. All of this was why she reserved it for very special occasions. If Lavender bit it meant death. She had long ago made a vow that she would never make another werewolf. The impact against the wall threw him from her grasp and momentarily stunned her.

"You die NOW, werewolf," the wizard screamed. _"Electrium!"_

Lightning struck from his wand, and danced around the room. Lavender dodged and wove as it jumped to and from every metal surface. She leapt and spun, cart wheeling and twisting, as three bolts only just missed her. The old man was on the floor trying to direct the lightning to her, but she was too fast for him. She was closing on his position when he got lucky. A bolt grazed her left side, and then another caught her across her chest. Her arms and legs stiffened and twitched, and she was thrown across the room to land in a heap on the shattered remains of one of the tables. Lavender had been ripped from her wolf form, and she lay naked among the splinters, but for her wand holster and the satchel around her shoulder.

-~####

A shock of pain shot through Seamus's finger. The steady pulse remained but it was much fainter and slower. He started to run. The six young people that he encountered had told him Lavender was up the stairs he was now taking two at a time. He burst into the anteroom at the top of the stairs and dashed through it into the vampire's office. The room was devastated. _Bit of a fight, eh love?_ he thought, then he saw the what was left of her adversary. Smirking at the pile of dust inside the suit on the floor, he vaulted over the remnants of the desk and hurried through the door beyond.

-~####

The old wizard rose to his feet and hobbled toward the prostrate form of the beautiful, naked woman, lying amid the splinters. He pressed his hand to the wound on his thigh trying to staunch the flow of blood. "You will pay, oh how you will pay," he said. "A quick death is out of the question now. I haven't enjoyed the pleasures of the flesh for quite some time. You will beg for death, bitch."

Lavender was floating on the edge of unconsciousness. _Keep talking, moron._ The pulse on her ring had quickened, and from the warmth she knew Seamus was nearly there. She opened her eyes and watched as the wounded old man approached. Her muscles didn't seem to want to respond and she shuddered as she tried to move.

"No, you can't," he said. "The shock disrupts motor control, which gives me time for this. _Crucio!_"

More pain ripped through her, but Lavender had mastered pain years ago. This was a curse she could manage. The great masters had taught her more than just fighting techniques and battle strategy, they had taught her to master her own mind and body, and Luna had taught her the rest. She isolated her mind from the pain and became its casual observer. He released the curse. Lavender looked at him and began to laugh, weakly. He looked momentarily surprised

"What's so funny, werewolf?"

"She's not here for me," Lavender said in a hoarse whisper, as she looked past him at the smiling woman in black, leaning against the wall. The warmth flowed from her ring. _He's here,_ she thought, and faded into unconsciousness.

_Expelliarmus, Incarcerus, FERTILUS!"_ Seamus shouted as he entered the room.

The old man's wand flew from his hand; thick ropes wrapped around him, and a faint green glow surrounded him and soaked into his body. Seamus ran to Lavender's side.

"Lav, Lav, oh c'mon baby, don't do this. Lav, you've got to stay with me. Lav!" he said, his voice choked. He gathered her in his arms and propped her head up so he could look at her. "Come on, love,"

Her eyes fluttered open and found him. "I wanted to get naked for you tonight," she said, and coughed. "This isn't how I imagined it though."

" _Rennervate,"_ Seamus said, and waved his wand over her. "Where's your healing potion? Never mind, I'll use mine." He dug in his satchel for a moment, and withdrew a flask.

"I hate the taste of that, Shay, it's bloody awful," Lavender told him in a small voice.

"And you're drinking this whole batch right now," he said grimly. "Brutal being you, isn't it?" He deftly popped the stopper from the flask with one hand.

"Arsehole," she said

"Aye, I can be. You love me anyway, though," he said, smiling. "Here you go." He tipped the flask to her lips and watched as she reluctantly downed the potion. "_Accio,"_ Seamus said. Lavender's and the old man's wands flew from the floor to his hand, and he turned to the man wrapped in ropes on the floor a few feet away. "Lower the wards," he said in a low menacing voice

The old man laughed. "Why, Irishman? So you and your bitch can run off? Oh no, I want to watch her die. She took a hard shock. I'm surprised she survived at all, but it'll get her soon. No potion will stave it off for long." He laughed again.

Seamus's voice approached a growl similar to his wife's. "Lower the wards and I'll make it quick. You'll be dead long before her, I guarantee it." Seamus's expression was one of loathing and contempt. "You broke a very important rule: first you kill your adversary, and then you gloat, you eejit feck."

"Aren't you breaking that rule?" he asked.

Seamus gave a small snort. "No." He hugged Lavender to him and stood. Sparring and training with his wife had sculpted Seamus Finnigan into nine stone of rock hard muscle, and he carried her with ease. "That little charm, curse in your case, _Fertilus_? Know it?"

The old man didn't respond.

"Aye, you wouldn't." And Seamus was in full temper, his Irish accent thickening by the second. "You see, one o' me best mates is Herbology professor at Hogwarts. Neville Longbottom, ever heard o' him?"

The old man glared.

"No? Aye it's a sad thing. You see, he's always thinking up ways to make things grow better, faster; loves plants, me friend Neville." Seamus turned so that Lavender could look down at the man. "One day, not so long ago, he thinks to himself, he thinks, 'I could devise a charm that causes seeds to grow better,' and so he did; came up with this little beauty. Works very well, it does. Only…well there's this wee problem. You see one day he was casting it in his garden, and he accidentally caught a mouse in the field o' the spell."

The wizard on the floor gave a groan.

"Stomach not feeling so well?" Seamus asked. His face held a grim smile. "I'd expect not. You see the _Fertilus_ charm makes the seeds germinate and grow at an astounding rate, and, well that poor little old mouse," — Seamus locked eyes with the man — "he just kind o' exploded."

The old man's eyes grew wide.

"Aye, every seed in your gut has germinated, and it's growing. You can feel it can't you? By now you're feeling the roots moving through you, things trying to find a way out." He stepped back a pace. "What'd you have for breakfast then, hmm? Nice bowl o' porridge? Seeded muffin? And lunch? And dinner?" Seamus barked out a coarse laugh, and then looked at the old wizard with grim fury. "I don't take kindly to people trying to kill me wife. Everyone that's tried is dead, and you'll be no different."

Lavender willed herself to stay conscious. She wanted to watch this. "I wanted you for myself, but life has its little disappointments. Goodbye," she said hoarsely.

The man started retching and a thorny vine snaked from his mouth.

"Ooo, blackberry, now that's got to be unpleasant," Seamus said, liltingly. "You certain you don't want me to end it now? A quick _Sectumsempra_ and your head comes away from your shoulders neat as you please."

The man thrashed on the floor and then lay still as his eyes flew open wide in pain and horror.

Seamus clicked his tongue. "Ah, too late," he said.

A small sapling bust from the old wizard's chest, and was followed by several stalks of corn. There was a terrible squishing sound as the roots of the rapidly growing tree ripped though the man's torso. Wheat and barley plants sprouted from the gore that was his now exposed entrails. He looked with fury at Lavender and Seamus, then his head lolled to the side and he was gone.

Lavender was just barely conscious. She saw Thanata step forward from the shadows, and as she watched, the goddess changed. Her hair faded to blond and took on a slight wave, her black clothing evolved into a golden chain mail suit of armor, a helm of gold crowned her head, and a spear appeared in her hand. She bent and pulled a misty figure from the body on the floor, and then Lavender slipped into unconsciousness.

Seamus attempted Apparition. "Must be some physical wards," he said. "Bet they're in this room." He set Lavender at his feet and held his wand over his head. _"Bombarda!"_ he shouted, and the roof was blasted into bits and blown from over their heads. He did the curse again, and again. The upper floor of the chateau was not so slowly being reduced to rubble, and fires were springing up all around them. At last, one of his curses connected to a tapestry on a far wall behind the stage, and Seamus felt the wards die.

"Hang on, Lav, we're going." He pressed the end of his wand to the coin on the chain around his neck. "Lavender hurt, going to Hogwarts," he said, and then he pulled a small wrapped package from his satchel and set it on the floor. "Ten," he said, pointing his wand at the package, and a small red ball of light shot from his wand into it. Seamus bent and gently gathered Lavender in his arms. She was fading in and out of consciousness as he turned on the spot, and with a loud snap they were gone.

-~####

Claude had stopped running and was standing on a ridge between Charix and the little valley where the chateau lay. He was looking back at the house trying to remember why he was running. Something was wrong and he knew he had to get home to Claire, but he couldn't remember why, then a brilliant glow filled the sky. The chateau didn't explode; it evaporated in a nearly soundless burst of heat and light. Claude was momentarily blinded, but as his vision returned he could see the outline of where the perimeter fence had been, and the smoldering remains of the guard shack. Of the chateau there was nothing. He turned, and ran the rest of the way home to his wife without looking back.


	6. Flight

Rescue

Chapter 6

Flight

Padma leapt from her bed, ran to her sister's room, barged through the door, and dashed to the side of the bed. "Wake up, Parv, wake up!" she whispered as she shook her sister.

"The brooms will be in Tibet by Friday, don't worry," Anthony Goldstein muttered, rolling over in his sleep. "Wha– what's going on, Pad?" Parvati asked.

"Get up, get dressed," Parvati said in a hushed whisper. "Now!"

Parvati was coming fully awake. "I'm up, I'm up," she said as she slid naked from the covers. "What's the rush?"

Padma held out her necklace. "Look."

LVNDR HRT GING HGWRTS

Parvati's face grew grim; she dashed to her wardrobe and grabbed the first thing her hands found. Parvati ran to her own room and scooped a dress and robe from the chair. The two women met in their sitting room a few minutes later.

"I left a note for Anthony," Parvati said. "He can let Blaise know when he gets home."

"I'm coming too," said Anthony, pulling his shirt on as he entered the room. "Dumbledore's Army and all that. I changed the note; Blaise'll get it when he comes home."

"Here're your shoes then," Parvati said, and she passed the other two their shoes from next to the door.

Padma tugged on her boots. "Floo or Apparate?" she asked.

"Let's Apparate to the gates," Anthony said while he finished tying the laces of his trainers. "If the message was from Seamus, that's where we'll have the best chance of catching up with them."

At the quizzical looks from the twins he said, "I've got one of these things too, you know." He held out his hand to show them his galleon.

"Alright then," Padma said, "are we ready?"

The other two nodded their assent.

"Off we go," she said, and they twisted into the dark.

-~####

Seamus and Lavender snapped into reality in a dark alleyway. As soon as he had his bearings he started to run. A cat yowled and tipped a dustbin over as it leapt from his path. The old gate loomed out of the darkness in front of him, and he slid to a stop in front of it.

"Louange Beauxbatons!" he yelled at the gate.

Light chimes sounded and the gate dissolved into mist. Ahead he could see the massive building outlined in the night sky of Marseilles. A young man met him as he dashed up to the rather large and impressive doors.

"Que diable?" he asked.

"Mon Francais merde," Seamus said. "Tu parles Anglais?"

"Oui, what are you doing 'ere?"

"No time, lad. I'm here to see Maxime, and then we're gone, now lead or get out of the way," Seamus said in a rush.

"'Oo are you? I cannot disturb Madame Maxime. It is late," he said, attempting to block Seamus's way. "You cannot barge into the school with a naked woman in your arms without explanation."

"I don't have time for this," Seamus said. "Listen lad, you've read 'La Belle Loup', right?"

"Oui."

"This is her. Now out of my way." He shoved through the door.

"She is Lavender Brown?" the young man said in wonder as he trailed behind Seamus.

"Aye, now what's the fastest way to Maxime's suite?" Seamus asked.

"This way, monsieur." The young man led Seamus at a run down a few hallways and up a short flight of stairs. "Here," he said as he slid to a stop in front of a tall door.

"Well get her up, lad, we don't have all day."

The young man looked at Seamus, worried, and then turned to the door. He laid his palm on an ornate knocker in the center of the door. "Pardon, Madame Maxime, a man is here with Lavender Brown. She is injured."

Seconds later the door flew open, and Madame Maxime stood there in her dressing gown. "Monsieur Finnigan? What brings you and your lovely wife to Beauxbatons at zis hour?"

"Begging your pardon, Madame," Seamus said, "but we were in France on a mission. I'd be glad to tell you it about later, but Lav got hurt, badly from what I can tell, and we need to get to Hogwarts right now. Can you get us a Portkey?"

"I will make one for you. I am allowed," Madam Maxime said proudly. "We 'ave very good medical facilities 'ere, do you not wish to take her to them?"

Seamus shook his head. "No, Madame, but thank you. Madam Pomfrey has a lot of experience with Lav and knows her physiology better than anyone."

"Very well, 'ere allow me." She waved her wand at her bed. A blanket slid from under the duvet and flew to her. She bent and wrapped it around Lavender with Seamus's help.

"Thanks, Madame Maxime," Lavender said, in a soft, far away voice.

"You're very welcome. You 'ave 'elped so many, it is ze least I can do." Madame Maxime turned and snatched a perfume bottle from her vanity. "Tell 'Agrid to bring ziss back to me on Saturday," she said to Seamus.

He grinned and nodded as he took the bottle. "Certainly, Madame," he said.

She held her wand tip to the bottle and said, _"Portus."_ The bottle glowed blue for a second and then returned to normal. Seamus gently placed the bottle in Lavender's hand and wrapped his own around it. "You will be at the front gates in moments; un, deux, trois…" She tapped her wand on the top of the bottle. Seamus, with Lavender in his arms, floated into the air and disappeared in a blue flash.

-~####

The first to arrive was Katie Bell, still in her nightdress. She was pacing in front of the gates when Angelina Weasley Apparated a few feet away.

"Not here yet?" Angelina asked.

"We seem to be the first," Katie responded.

There was another series of snaps and Parvati, Padma, and Anthony arrived. They were about to exchange greetings when Hermione, Luna, and then Hannah Longbottom appeared.

"Neville is on his way down from the castle," Hannah said. "I Flooed him. He was already up, and he's letting Poppy know Lavender's coming."

Luna was bouncing on her toes. "Hurry, hurry, hurry," she said to herself over and over. Hermione stepped to her side and hugged her.

"She'll be alright," Hermione told her. "Seamus has her, and he's good, he's very good. They'll be here in no time, you'll…"

The Portkey opened in their midst, and Seamus landed lightly on the ground with Lavender in his arms.

-~####

Lavender was fading in and out of consciousness. Seamus… Seamus was there with her, saving her again, god how she loved this man. He hugged her closer; there was the squish of Apparition, and then the slap of cold night air on her bare skin… Darkness… He was running… Darkness… The numbness from the shock was wearing off, and she felt like there were rivers of fire running through her. She moaned softly as he hurried up to a doorway… They were flying down a marble hallway… Madame Maxime was there, she was helping, and she wrapped her in a blanket… "Thank you Madame Maxime," she managed… The sensation of Portkey… Luna.

-~####

_Lavender!_ Luna's voice said in her mind. _Lavender, answer me, NOW!_

_Yeah, Yeah, I'm here. Keep your knickers on,_ Lavender thought at her.

"She's barely conscious," Luna told them. "She's in a good deal of pain. Where the hell is Neville?"

Angelina looked toward the castle. "He's coming. There, there's a lamp, it must be him."

_Neville we be here in seconds, Lavender, stay with us._ Luna sent to her.

_Where am I going to go?_ Lavender answered, and then faded into unconsciousness.

Cho Chang snapped into existence a few feet away. "Sorry, it took me a while to get away," she said. "Dudley had to take over sitting with Anna. Chicken pox," –she rolled her eyes– "and then I had to get dressed. Is Lavender alright?" she asked Seamus.

"She got hit by some sort o' electrical spell, took her right out o' wolf." Three more snaps sounded. Ginny, Harry, and Lily landed just down the road from them.

"She would not let us leave her," Ginny said, exasperated, as she hurried up.

"Aunt Lavender!" Lily cried as she ran to Seamus's side. "Is she okay?" she asked Seamus, with tear filled eyes.

Seamus looked down at her and smiled. "With all these powerful people here, Lilywhite, she will be."

The bobbing lamp had become the dim outline of a running Neville Longbottom. When he was a hundred feet from the gates a bolt of green light shot from his wand and splashed against them. The gates swung open and Seamus was off at a dead run.

"Thanks, Nev," he said as he dashed past.

"Oi! Christ, Shay, you're going to kill me," Neville shouted as he turned, panting, and started running back up the hill after his friend.

Even with Lavender in his arms, Seamus outran them all. He was at the front doors and through them before Katie Bell, the closest to him, had made the steps. Seamus flew down the corridors to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey, old and bent but still spry, met him at the doors to the infirmary.

"Her usual bed," she instructed Seamus.

He ran down the aisle between the beds, and gently laid her in the third one from the end on the right. Seamus sank to the floor, gasping, with stars bursting in front of his eyes. He had made it from Charix to her bed at Hogwarts in less than ten minutes.

"What happened?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"Electric… spell," Seamus replied between pants. "Don't know… much else."

The old woman conjured a stool and settled next to Lavender. She waved her wand in slow figure eights over her. The door flew open and a small crowd of people ran towards them. Fine red lines appeared on Lavender's skin, almost as if she were porcelain that had been crazed and cracked.

"There's so much," Madam Pomfrey said, awed, "so much. It's amazing she's still alive. I don't know, Seamus. There's damage everywhere. I don't think even with five of me I could heal this."

"NO! Poppy, no!" Seamus burst out, tears running down his face. "I can't lose her, we can't lose her, you have to save her, there has to be a way." He grabbed Lavender's hand, and kissed it. "I can't live without you love, don't leave me." He began to weep in earnest.

"Hang on, Shay," Harry said, and looked at Ginny. She nodded and turned to her friends. Ginny locked eyes with Hermione and tipped her head to Madam Pomfrey. Hermione nodded back.

"What if there were nine of you?" Hermione asked seriously. "You know a little of what we can do, Poppy, but I don't think you have any idea how much we can do. Join with us; we will be your hands, your eyes, your wands."

"You would do that?" Madam Pomfrey asked in wonder.

"Of course," Luna said softly. "For twenty years you've been here for Lavender. You were there for all her triumphs. Come, let's triumph again." Luna took her hand. "Trice to mine!" she said as she took Katie Bell's hand.

"And trice to thine!" Hermione said as she, Cho, and Angelina linked hands with them forming a semicircle around Lavender.

Seamus released Lavender's hand and moved back so that Ginny, Parvati and Padma could stand over her and complete the circle. "And thrice again to make up nine!" Ginny said in a voice filled with power, as she, Parvati, and Padma joined hands with the rest.

A blue glow of magic flared into life around them, and Luna raised her voice. "We are the power! We are the magic! We are the Sisters! _Simbios!_"

Poppy Pomfrey had been a healer most of her life. She had performed every kind of healing spell in her long career, but she had never been in a magical joining like this. The women around her were part of her, their thoughts, emotions, knowledge, everything was laid open to her, and she to them. And there was a tenth entity among them; that being that was the combination of them all.

_We are ready._ She felt them feel it rather than say it. She opened her eyes, but not just her own eyes. She was seeing through all their eyes at once, feeling their power ready to do whatever was needed. She drew her wand again and cast the revealing charm. The thin red lines reappeared, and the healing began.

Seamus felt a crackling force around him, and he watched in awe as the women drew their wands and began tracing them over Lavender. They dipped and wove in a pattern more complicated than any knot work he had ever seen. It was a dance, and he was stunned by their grace and beauty as they moved around him. Wands were everywhere, tracing the lines on Lavender's skin. Soft blue-green light emanated from the tips, and wherever they passed over her the red lines faded. It was like watching a masterful spider spin an ornate web.

Harry, holding Lily's hand, stepped to Seamus's side. "It's remarkable, isn't it? You ever seen it?" he asked in a whisper.

Seamus looked on in awe. "No. I mean I knew they could do amazing things, and after what happened when Hermione and Rose were kidnapped I knew that we didn't know the half of it, but no, I've never seen it." He looked over at Anthony, Hannah, and Neville, who were transfixed. Anthony looked like he'd been stunned, Hannah was smiling, tears coursing down her face, and Neville was silently nodding, an expression of understanding on his face.

Lily spoke from Harry's side. "Rose says that when they join like this their magic is multiplied."

"Your mum and aunts are something special, aren't they, Lilywhite?" Seamus asked her.

She looked at him in that way only a ten year old girl can, with an expression of purest wonder that the adult she was talking to could not grasp one simple concept. "Of course, Uncle Seamus, they're the Sisters of the Moon."

He smiled and hugged her. "That they are, Lilywhite, that they are."

The last of the lines faded away, and the wand dance ended. Madam Pomfrey cast another charm and a faint white ball of light pulsed just above Lavender's abdomen. _We need the wolf. We've done all we can. She needs its healing power._

The women as one stowed their wands and knelt next to Lavender. The nine women placed their hands on her skin. _Lavender! _they called to her. _Lavender, we need the wolf. Help us bring her forth._

_-~####_

Lavender was floating in a soft void of unconsciousness, images and thoughts slowly playing through her mind.

"You're very close to me," Thanata's voice said near her.

"I thought you hadn't come for me. Has that changed?" Lavender asked.

"No. Your friends are working very hard to prevent that. Look." Lavender was floating above the bed, looking down on her sisters and herself. Time seemed almost at a standstill for her, and they were moving in a very slow motion dance, their wands tracing lines on her skin. "I have come to take you to see the Spinner, the Weaver, and the Trimmer." Darkness engulfed her.

A light dawned before her, and Lavender found herself in a place with no walls and only a hint of floor. A short distance away three women stood before what appeared to be a tapestry that stretched in every direction as far as she could see. She looked to her side and Thanata was there.

"I've sussed it by the way," Lavender told her.

"Have you?" Thanata said with a smile.

"Yes. You're Death, or at least some manifestation of death. But I always thought you were a man, or the skeleton of a man; and where's the scythe?"

"Very good, Lyra. Yes, I am the embodiment of that concept you call death, but I'm also a good deal more than that. I am the Hierophant, the Ferryman, the conductor of souls between the worlds. I bring them forth, and I retrieve them when it's time. As to my form, well you have always liked this one. I can be 'the Grim Reaper' if you like. I can be anything."

"I like this form fine," Lavender replied, "although, the Valkyrie outfit was stunning. Why the change?"

Thanata laughed. "That was what he expected, so that's what he got, but I prefer this form, and as for the scythe, it's right here." She held out her hand and the scythe of death appeared in it. "I'm never without it. It's what she gave me to signify my task, my badge of office if you will."

"We've been friends a long time, have we?" Lavender asked.

"From the very first time we met, Lyra. If I could choose a daughter she would be you," Thanata told her.

"Thanks," Lavender said, overwhelmed, and a little frightened.

They moved toward the three figures and stopped a short distance from them. The three women turned as one to face them. One, a young woman with chestnut hair much like Hermione's, held a bundle of mist in her right hand from which she pulled a thread. The middle one, a motherly looking woman with graying hair, took the thread and passed the end through a large needle she held, and then passed it into the tapestry where it snaked into the design. The third woman, old and bent, held a large pair of shears in her hand, and she continually snipped at threads that emerged from the tapestry. The needles fell into her outstretched palm and she handed them back to the woman in the center.

Lavender studied the design. It was more than a tapestry; it had three dimensions, and the closer she looked the more detail she saw. Then she realized that the softly glowing threads were lives. She saw her thread. She knew it was her thread, and there was Seamus's entwined with hers. The silvery one next to hers must be Luna, and there was Hermione, and the rest of the Sisters. She began to fall forward and Thanata pulled her back.

She chuckled. "It's probably not a good idea for you to contemplate the weave without our help. We've never had a mortal here before; it appears you can lose yourself in it."

Lavender looked at the three women. "The Fates," she said in whispered awe.

"Yes," said Thanata, "and I am their partner and friend."

The younger woman smiled at them. "Welcome, Lyra. I am Clotho, the Spinner. We asked Thanata to bring you before us, we hope you don't mind." Her hands continued their work, never ceasing.

"I'm honored, but why?" Lavender asked.

"You have served us so well," the Weaver said. "Loki delights in tangling the weave. You are, and have always been, our greatest ally in undoing his mischief. I am Lachesis, the Weaver. Behold the weave." Lachesis waved her hand in a broad arc across the tapestry and Lavender saw the intersection of her life and the lives of the children she had saved in France. She saw how in the future those lives would affect others, how those lives would form a beautiful and complicated pattern of their own. For one brief moment she saw through the eyes of the goddesses, and understood the complexity of their plan for the pattern of the weave. Lavender turned back to the weaver. "For all this and so much more," Lachesis said, "we have decided to reward you in this life."

_Lavender!_ The chorus of voices rang in the space around them.

"And I am Atropos," the old woman with the shears said. "Your friends are very powerful. They call and you must go, but know that we love you, and you have done better than we could have hoped."

_Lavender, we need the wolf…_

Clotho pulled another gleaming strand from the mist. "For you," she said, smiling, and handed the thread to Lachesis.

_Help us bring her forth._

"Until we meet again, Lyra, thank you, live well," Atropos said as she snipped another thread. Thanata turned to go, and they faded into darkness.

Lavender was floating in the void again. She could feel her friends near, and she could feel her wolfself too. _They need you, my sweet. I need you_. With all her strength she called her wolfself forward.

-~####

Luna felt Lavender's effort to call the wolf. _We have to help her_, she said in the shared consciousness that was formed in the link. The nine women poured their energy into Lavender.

Seamus watched as Lavender quivered on the bed, and then the change began. He was always fascinated by the metamorphosis. First the coarse outer fur would spring from her skin, followed closely by the fine inner coat. Her arms and legs stretched and swelled as her bones lengthened and the muscles expanded. The nails on her fingers and toes grew into the terrible weapons that had brought retribution and justice to so many. At the same time her face changed from the beautiful woman that he so loved, to the friendly visage of her wolfself. The old bed creaked and groaned as her weight nearly tripled.

Another complicated dance of wands began over her. Lavender shivered and twitched as sprays and sparks of magic brushed across her. _Alright, girls,_ Madam Pomfrey sent in the link, _we're going to flush all the impurities from her. We've healed most of the damage, and her wolf physiology is doing the rest, but that has flooded her system with waste and toxins._ The women's wands swept upwards, and thin, sticky, black strings emerged from Lavender's body and puffed into an acrid smelling smoke before dissipating.

Madam Pomfrey waved her wand over Lavender and a ball of light flared to life above her, and then a few moments later a second one appeared and shone as brightly as the first. _We've succeeded, s_he sent. _All she needs now is rest. I think I do too._ The old woman swayed and Hermione steadied her.

Luna quietly said, _"Finite."_ and the link dissolved.

Katie Bell chuckled as she helped Madam Pomfrey sit on her stool next to the bed. "Takes a little out of you, eh Madam Pomfrey?"

"Oh hush," she said smiling, "we'll talk when _you're_ seventy nine, see how _you_ like it."

Seamus took Madam Pomfrey's hand. "Thank you, Poppy. I…" He choked with tears and emotion.

"It's quite alright, Mr. Finnigan. But I do think it's time for you and Mrs. Finnigan to think about a career change, hmm?"

Seamus laughed. "Yes, we'll be speaking about that soon."

Lavender stirred and her eyes opened and shut a few times, and then found Seamus. "Oww," she said softly.

"Hey there, love," he said. "Feeling a bit peaky?"

"Better now, just tired," she said as Seamus took her hand, and stroked the fur on her arm.

"I love you, Lav," Seamus said.

"Love you, Shay," she said weakly.

Lily pushed her way to the side of the bed. "I love you too, Aunt Lavender. You scared us, don't do that again," she said seriously.

"Hey there, Lilywhite, what are you doing here?" Lavender asked.

"She wouldn't let go of us so we could Disapparate," Ginny said, looking sternly at her daughter.

Lavender chuckled because for the barest moment mother and daughter wore the exact same defiant expression.

"I had to make sure you were alright," Lilly said proudly.

"I'm going to be fine," Lavender told her. "Go home. You're up way to late."

Madam Pomfrey leaned over her. "You are, too. Get some sleep, Lavender. Mr. Finnigan can stay with you." She rose and turned to the assembly. "As for the rest of you, out!" As she shooed them down the aisle she tugged on Luna's robe, and the blonde woman turned to her. "I just wanted to thank you for your trust and the experience, it was… exhilarating," she said, awed.

"The thanks is ours to give, Madam Pomfrey. You have served the wizarding community so well for so long they should name the hospital wing here at Hogwarts after you," Luna told her. "Lavender always says you are the best healer in Britain. I think after tonight there's a great deal more support for that opinion."

"Thank you, Mrs. Scamander," Madam Pomfrey said earnestly. "Thank you for helping me save her, and I think there may be more… interesting things happening in the near future to Lavender."

"Like?" Luna asked.

"We'll see," Madam Pomfrey replied. "It's just a suspicion now. I'll know more in a few days." At Luna's worried look she smiled. "Oh, it's good. In fact it could be the best news she's ever had."


	7. Mothers

Rescue

Chapter 7

Mothers

"Mr. Finnigan?" Madam Pomfrey's voice drew him from his slumber.

He opened his eyes and tried to move. "Argh," he said, pain coursing though his sore muscles. "Crap, shouldn't sleep in a chair." He looked up at the old woman. "Or better yet, you should get some comfy ones."

Madam Pomfrey laughed. "If we had more comfortable chairs the visitors would never leave, and then how would we get our work done?" She sat on a stool she conjured. "And if I recall I did offer you a bed."

He looked down to where he still held Lavender's hand. "Wouldn't have worked"

Madam Pomfrey smiled. "No, I suppose not." She looked to the slumbering woman on the bed. Lavender had reverted to human during the night. She looked back to Seamus, and her expression grew stern. "Mr. Finnigan, I have to ask you a few sensitive questions. It's important, but I can't tell you why until I talk to Lavender."

"Alright," he said cautiously. He rose from the chair and stretched. Several loud pops sounded from his shoulders, and he bent and rubbed his legs. 'Ow, blimey, can't run with her in my arms like I could when I was eighteen, either."

"I'll make a pain draught for you." Madam Pomfrey cleared her throat. "When was the last time you made love to your wife?"

Seamus choked. "Wh-what?" he said, and sat back down.

"It's important, Mr. Finnigan."

Seamus blushed. "Um, well, we a …"

"Oh, please Mr. Finnigan!" Madam Pomfrey said in an amused and slightly exasperated voice. "I've spent fifty years treating adolescents. Do you think I've never had to deal with this kind of thing? When was the last time you and Lavender had sex?"

"Um, well just before we left the hotel room yesterday." He blushed harder. "It's kind of a good luck thing. You see…"

"Yes, yes," Madam Pomfrey said, "and she spent a good deal of time in her wolf form yesterday?"

"Aye."

Madam Pomfrey nodded.

Seamus looked to her. "What's wrong?"

She smirked. "Probably nothing, but I do need to talk to Lavender."

"What, does it affect the magic you did or something?" Seamus asked, looking worried.

"Hardly, Mr. Finnigan. No, I need to talk to Lavender about a few things, woman things, that's all." She nodded to herself, stood, and walked back to her office.

Lavender woke. It was late afternoon, and red-gold light was spilling through the hospital windows. Seamus stirred at her side.

"Afternoon, love. Feeling better?" he asked.

"Yes. Stiff though," she said as she stretched and yawned. "Thirsty."

"I'll get you a glass of water," Seamus said and strode down the aisle toward the office. A few moments later he reappeared with Madam Pomfrey in tow.

"How are you feeling, Lavender?" she asked.

"Like I told Shay, stiff," she said as she took the glass from Seamus.

"Mr. Finnigan, I need to examine your wife, and I'd prefer to do it in private if you don't mind. Why don't you go drop in on Professor Longbottom's greenhouses? I'm sure his students wouldn't mind another hero visiting him."

"I'm being got rid of," Seamus said with a smile.

"Yes, you are," Madam Pomfrey said, "so get gone."

Seamus kissed Lavender and headed for the door. "I'll get dinner for you then?" he said over his shoulder.

"That'd be great, Shay," Lavender called to him as he left the infirmary. She set the glass on the bedside table, and turned to Madam Pomfrey. "So, why did you get rid of him?"

Madam Pomfrey cleared her throat. "We had to do a good deal of very intense healing magic yesterday, Lavender, and after we healed the damage we had to clear your system of all the toxins and waste from the healing."

"I understand."

Madam Pomfrey smiled and cocked an eyebrow. "I don't think you understand the full ramifications. We cleared your system of everything, including any potions."

"Okay," Lavender said. "The only potions I had taken were the sobriety potion and my birth con…trol. Oh, no," Lavender said, shaking her head, "No, no, no."

Madam Pomfrey nodded. She took Lavender's wand from the bedside table and handed it to her. "An anticlockwise swish above your womb; the charm is _'Conceptus Revelo'_. Go on."

Her wand trembled in her hand as Lavender moved it above her abdomen. _"Conceptus Revelo,"_ she whispered. Pink sparks flew from the end of her wand.

"A girl," Madam Pomfrey said. Lavender's wand clattered to the floor, and she dissolved into tears.

"I can't be pregnant," Lavender said through the sobs. "Seamus and I … we knew we couldn't. The child would … will be a werewolf. We promised ourselves we wouldn't do that to an innocent child." She cried harder.

Madam Pomfrey picked up Lavender's wand, set it on the bedside table, and enveloped her in a hug. Lavender Brown was as close as Poppy Pomfrey was ever going to come to having a daughter of her own, and she was going to make sure Lavender knew she would help any way she was asked. "It's not your fault, Lavender. You remember what I told you about how a female wolf can store the male's seed for a long time and then impregnate herself when the time is right?"

Lavender nodded against her chest.

"Well, I believe that's what's happened. You and Mr. Finnigan made love yesterday afternoon and you spent a lot of time in wolf yesterday. When we scrubbed you of toxins the birth control potion was washed from your system as well. The rest is nature and fate."

"Fate!" Lavender spat. "They said they loved me. They said …" and she saw the memory on her mind. _We have decided to reward you in this life … For you …_ "But I can't have a child. What were you thinking?" she shouted at the ceiling.

Madam Pomfrey was puzzled. "What, Lavender? Who are you talking to?"

"No one, just the fates." Lavender's shoulders shook from the sobs.

Madam Pomfrey shrugged and returned to the topic at hand. "You can do this, Lavender; you can, if you want. We can stop it, but I think you may want to consult your husband, family, and friends before you make that decision." Madam Pomfrey looked sternly at her. "We will do nothing about this for the next week. You rest and recover. Talk with your husband, consult with your friends, and then we'll proceed with prenatal treatment … or something else." She looked at Lavender and let the love she felt for her show through for a moment. "You are amazing, Lavender. You have done amazing things and saved so many children." She placed her hand atop Lavender's on her belly. "Save this one."

Lavender was alone with her thoughts. Madam Pomfrey had hugged her while she cried and then retired to her office so that Lavender could have some time to think, and think she had. She had vowed she would never have a child after she had been bitten. The pain of the transformation was enough, but the stigma was worse. When she had been out in the world, playing Selene, she had seen just how people in their unguarded moments thought about her condition. They hated, feared and looked down on werewolves. They were viewed as less than human, diseased, pariahs. They loved _her,_ but that was just because of her exploits and Hermione's book. If it hadn't been for that she'd have been an outcast like the rest. She would have called Madam Pomfrey back and ended it right then if it hadn't been for the Fates.

They had chosen her, they had given her a child, and she was by turns grateful and furious with them. _We have decided to reward you in this life … For you … _It wouldn't stop playing in her mind. Reward? Yes it was, dramatic and stunning, but could she do it? Could Shay do it? What would her family say? What would they do? She was fairly sure how Seamus's family would react. They had accepted her without a second thought; her being a werewolf was just a quaint curiosity, but what about her mother? And her sisters, Jasmine and Artemisia? Like the rest they loved _her_ but what of her child?

_Her child_, she was somewhat surprised at the grin that formed every time she thought those words. _My baby, _she thought and her cheeks hurt from the smile. Tears coursed down her cheeks again. _Bitches,_ She thought at the Fates, _you are complete bitches to put me in this position!_ _I was happy. Shay and I had come to terms with not having a child, and now … Now what the fuck are we supposed to do?_

An hour later Lavender was lying in her bed staring at the ceiling. Her emotions were still in turmoil. _A child_, she thought, and the cheek breaking grin formed again. Lavender had wanted a child of her own since she was twelve, and she had thought for so long that that couldn't happen. Now — now it was different, now she carried the spark of a little girl within her. She was finding it increasingly hard to even consider not having her, holding her, loving her, and as she thought about that, she realized that she already loved her child.

Seamus appeared at the door to the infirmary. He looked around the room and strode to Lavender's side.

"Brought a little something from the kitchen for you," he said, and pulled a small package from his robes. "'Twas roast beef for dinner tonight, and I had the elves make up a little snack for you." He looked to her and noticed her red rimmed eyes. Seamus was not used to tears from his wife; Lavender hardly ever cried. "What's wrong, love?"

She took a deep breath. "I …" she fidgeted with the blanket. "Shay, we…"

Seamus became very concerned and took her hand. "Lav, whatever's wrong we can see it through. I love you. Come on, love, it can't be that bad."

She looked up at him smiling broadly, tears flowing down her cheeks. "I'm pregnant, Shay. We're going to have a little girl."

Seamus looked like he'd been hit with a brick. "Pregnant? Uh … Um … I, uh."

Lavender couldn't help but laugh. "It's okay, Shay. I've had an hour or so to get used to the idea, you'll get there."

"But I thought that you couldn't. I mean you take the potion without fail, and … that was why Poppy was asking me those questions."

Lavender raised an eyebrow. "What questions?"

Seamus blushed a bit. "She was asking me when the last time we … um."

"Did the nasty?" Lavender said with a laugh.

"Yeah," he said chuckling. "Mam's gonna go spare, and your mam, what's she gonna do?"

"Have a furry little granddaughter and be happy about it, that's what she's going to do." Lavender said firmly. "Speaking of them, could you bring our mums here, Shay. I'd like to talk to both of them. Poppy gave me the choice of having the baby or not, and I've decided I want to, but it's not just my choice. You, especially, have to be for it or it'll never work out. You haven't said yet." She looked to him with a frightened expression he had only seen a few times. "Do you want to do this?"

Seamus smiled, and a few tears ran down his face. "Lavender, me love, I had given up on the idea of us having a little one, and I was fine with that. Our taking care of the Potter and Weasley kids was as good a substitute as you could find for having our own, but I was always sad that you didn't get to have one of your own, of our own. Now we do, eh?"

Lavender nodded.

"Well furry or not I'll love her with all I have," he said, and then a knowing grin spread on his face. "Always had a feeling this would happen, I did; you're just too good at being a mam. Look how long it took Lilywhite to stop calling you Mam and start calling you Aunt Lavender." He laughed. "Don't know if you knew how much that hacked Ginny off, not at you," he said at her startled look. "She was just mad about the situation." He seemed to focus on a spot far in the distance. "Aye, a little Finnigan girl, your beauty, Mam's hair …

"Your courage," Lavender said.

"And yours," he said, and he kissed her hand. "Aye, me love, let's have this baby."

Lavender was still stiff and sore but she didn't care. She threw herself from the bed into Seamus's arms. Great sobs of joy wracked her body, and she and Seamus wept for the sheer happiness of it.

-~####

Margaret Finnigan met her son and his mother-in-law on the front steps of Hogwarts. She wouldn't have picked Sylvia Brown for a friend, but as the mother of her daughter-in-law she was fine.

"Morning Seamus, Sylvia," she said as she approached.

"Good morning, Margaret," Mrs. Brown said, as Seamus hugged his mother.

"Well, Son," Mrs. Finnigan said as she released him, "what's brought your mothers here on such a fine Saturday morning?"

"Let's just go see Lavender and then we'll talk," he said.

"You've been very mysterious since you Flooed last night." She turned to Sylvia. "Wouldn't tell me what was so bloody important, you?"

Mrs. Brown shrugged as she fell in behind Seamus and next to his mother. "Not a clue. They never tell me anything though; too afraid I'll be worried about what they get up to. Lavender takes too many risks! I was hoping Seamus would make her give up some of these dangerous things she tends to do."

_You really don't know your daughter, do you, Sylvia,_ Margaret thought, and turned to smile at Seamus who, she could tell, was thinking the exact same thing. "Really not much chance of that happening, is there, Son?"

Seamus silently chuckled. "No, Mam, I'd say not."

"Well I'm so glad she found you, Seamus. I don't know what she'd be up to if you didn't keep an eye on her. Probably wind up in the hospital all the time."

Seamus choked. "Um, well, ah, Sylvia we're kind o' heading to the hospital wing now."

Margaret was smiling broadly behind Sylvia. She knew that if Lavender was truly hurt he wouldn't be making small talk with them, and Sylvia's reaction was hilarious.

"What? Hospital! Is she alright? What happened?" She launched into a barrage of questions that Seamus couldn't answer because she didn't pause for breath to let him.

"Ever since her sixth year she's been doing all these dangerous things, and I just can't understand it. She was hurt bad enough in the battle. Why, Seamus? Why does she do it?"

"Well Syl –"

"It's not as if she hasn't proved her character. You two are just as deserving of that hero label as Potter is. After all they gave you both the Order of Merlin too, didn't they?"

"Yes, Syl –"

"And after all of that she still has to go off on these crusades of hers. Why can't she just be happy with the lives she's already saved?"

"She just wan –"

"I mean how many trips to the ward is this now? Three, four?"

"Actually it's sev –"

"Getting bitten was ba –"

"SYLVIA!" roared Mrs. Finnigan. Her voice echoed in the corridor they had turned down. "She's fine, calm down, and here, have a nip." She handed a small flask to Mrs. Brown that she had pulled from her robes.

Sylvia took a long draw and handed the flask back to Mrs. Finnigan. "Thank you, Margaret. Sorry Seamus, I just get a little tense where Lavender is concerned."

Seamus took his mother-in-law's hand. "It's okay, Sylvia, you're going to be happy, I guarantee it, so come on." He led them on toward the hospital wing.

"Son, why are we here and not in London?" Mrs. Finnigan asked.

"As it happens, Mam, Lavender and I were on a mission." At Sylvia's look and intake of breath he hastily added, "A very successful mission, and, um, she got hurt. She's okay now, but I'll be honest, Sylvia, it was close. The Sisters had to break out the _draíocht __ar__mhórchóir_. They are so strong …" He trailed off looking awed.

Mrs. Finnigan nodded. She had a very good idea of how powerful her daughter-in-law and her friends were. Seamus seamed lost in thought and she pulled him back. "Earth to Seamus, you with us, son?" she said.

"Sorry, Mam, it was amazing," – Seamus shook his head – "amazing." He smiled in wonder. "What they did … just amazing." Seamus turned to the women. "Lav's told you about how they saved her, yeah?

The two women nodded.

"Aye, well they did something very like that again night before last. I've never seen anything like it, never."

"How bad was it, Seamus?" Mrs. Finnigan asked, knowing that was exactly what Mrs. Brown wanted to know but was afraid to ask.

Seamus swallowed hard past the lump of fear in his throat. Lavender had worried him severely, and he was still getting over it. "We went to France to free some children from a slavery ring." He smirked at his mother's growl. "That's just how Lavender reacted."

Margaret chuckled. "I can well imagine."

"I assume they're safe. If there's one thing I know about my daughter, it's that she will not tolerate abuse of children," Sylvia said proudly. "How many were there?"

"Twenty six, and the six older ones, so thirty two in all I'd say," Seamus said flatly. "Most of them are at St. Mungo's, but one was a magical child and her parents are on their way from Sweden. They should be here in a few hours, and they want to thank Lavender personally." He smiled with pride. "Had to arrange getting them up here from London this morning."

Sylvia smiled at Margaret. "I would think they'll want to thank you too, Seamus," she said.

"Oh, it's fine. Most of the time I have to relay the thanks to Lav. Got to protect the cover you know," he said.

"Why are they coming here to meet her then? Isn't that a breach of security?" Sylvia asked.

_Not any more, Sylvia,_ he thought. "There's a lot to talk about," Seamus said, overwhelmed, "and we've got to a point where Lavender needs to be in on it. Luckily, here we are." They had arrived at the ward entrance. Seamus opened the door for the two women and followed them in.

Hermione, Ginny and Luna were standing next to Lavender's bed when Seamus and his mothers walked up. "Good morning, Mrs. Finnigan, Mrs. Brown," Luna said brightly. "We were just saying goodbye." _Take good care of yourself and the cub,_ she sent to Lavender.

_I will, and thanks._ Lavender reached out and took Luna's hand "Thank you."

"See you at the circle," Ginny said as she turned to go.

"Yes, no slacking off just because you landed in the hospital again," Hermione told her.

"Yes, Madam Minister," Lavender said with a cheeky grin.

"Assistant to the Minister!" Hermione said in a huff. "You know that Alan has wanted this for a while now, and he simply took the opportunity to do it yesterday. So it's just _Assistant_ to the Minister, alright?"

"For now," Lavender said laughing.

"Phtt," Hermione said. She bent and kissed Lavender's forehead. "Be good," she whispered.

"Rurf," Lavender barked in reply.

The three women left the ward laughing.

Mrs. Finnigan slapped her son's arm. "So, what's so important that we had to come all the way up here to Scotland, boy?"

Seamus turned to his wife. "I've told them what we were up to, but not how you got hurt, or what happened after."

Lavender looked at the two women. "You'll be wanting a chair."

For the next twenty minutes Lavender told them of the infiltration of the compound, of the saving of the kids, and of the fights with the vampire and the old wizard. She held back telling them of her meeting with Thanata, and her sojourn into the realm of the Fates. Lavender had decided that that conversation was best had later. Then Seamus took up the tale, and told them of the flight back to Hogwarts and a little bit more of what Madam Pomfrey and the other women had done in middle of the night. By the end the two women were speechless.

"… so, then yesterday afternoon Madam Pomfrey asked me some rather odd questions of a quite personal nature." Seamus said.

"And then she came to me," Lavender told the older women. "When they did the cleansing spells they cleared everything from my system, toxins, waste, potions, everything."

Lavender's mother nodded. "I see," she said.

"No Mum, I don't think you do," Lavender responded, smirking, and remembering just how Madam Pomfrey told her. "I spent most of that day in wolf, and female wolves have a special ability. You see they can mate with the male and save the seed inside their bodies so that when the time is right they can conceive."

Mrs. Finnigan's eyes widened in understanding, but Mrs. Brown hadn't got it yet.

Lavender took up her wand. For the tenth time since she had done it the day before, she waved her wand over herself and with a broad smile and said, _"Conceptus Revelo". _Once again pink sparks flew from the end of her wand.

Mrs. Finnigan shrieked with joy. "Oh, Lavender, this is wonderful. You will be the best mother."

Mrs. Brown looked perplexed. "But I thought …"

"Yes, Mum," Lavender said. "We were trying very hard not to have a baby, as I was determined not to put a child through everything that I've been through, but umm … the fates had other ideas."

_Aye, they certainly did, my love,_ Seamus thought. Lavender had told him everything about her experiences during the assault on the compound and while she was being healed. He had been awed at the sheer enormity of what she had told him. Death had come to her, told her of her past, and of their special friendship; Death had taken her to meet the Fates, and they had given her and Seamus this precious gift.

"Well I think it's grand," Mrs. Finnigan said. "No one views you as anything other than a hero, and you can be certain your child will be treated well, even if she is a werewolf. We'll make it work, won't we, Sylvia?" Mrs. Brown nodded emphatically. "You deserve this, Lavender, and I know you want it."

Lavender looked at the two women. "I was torn for a while," — she looked into infinity for a moment, and then she came back to them — "really torn. Madam Pomfrey has given me the options, but I decided I wanted to go through with it pretty quickly." She smiled at her husband, "And when Shay and I talked I was sure." She smiled at her mothers. "It won't be all sweetness for her, I know that. There's little doubt she'll be born a werewolf. They love me out there in the big broad world, but that's just for what I've done, not who I am. The others are still in the same fix that werewolves have been in for the last ten thousand years. They're isolated, alone really, even if they have family, most don't want them around. I have to be realistic, Margaret. She will have to face the prejudice, but Seamus and I will make sure she's better than that."

"I'll be right there with you, Lavender," her mother said. "While you were talking just now I looked in myself, you know, to see how I feel, honestly, and I suppose I've just got used to it over the years. It was hard, after you were bitten, it was hard to… accept, to treat you as a person and not a monster. We failed at first," — she shook her head and looked away— "Artie, Jazz, your dad and I, we failed, and I don't think we've apologized quite enough." She took Lavender's hand, and looked in her eyes. "I love you, dear, and I'll love your girl. No one will abuse her or you in any way while I'm around."

Seamus's mother watched the exchange smiling. "Good on you, Sylvia. Lavender's known how I feel from the first."

"Don't take any guff, do you, Margaret?" Lavender asked, smiling.

Mrs. Finnigan laughed at the shared memory. "No, same as you dear."

"Thought Mike and Sally were the last to give you grand kids, didn't you, Mam?" Seamus said hugging his mother.

She smiled at him. "Aye, Seamus, happy to have been wrong though."

"So there'll be no more of this gallivanting around getting yourself cursed," Mrs. Brown said sternly. "You've a baby to think about now."

Seamus put his hand on his mother-in-law's shoulder. "Lavender and I have been talking about leaving the department for a bit now, Sylvia. The kids'd all be at school next year, and we'd not be needed for security, so they'd be tempted to send us on more o' these kinds o' missions." He shook his head. "'S not what we signed on for. You'd be knowing the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Dedalus Diggle?" Sylvia nodded. "Well he's getting on, and he wants to retire himself. We were talking a while back, we were, and he mentioned that he thought Lav would be a great DADA professor." He smiled at Mrs. Brown "I spoke with him this morning before school. He's seeing Professor Wright today and recommending Lav replace him."

"That'd be a fine thing," Mrs. Finnigan said. "Nice safe position, but you still get to help the young ones. Perfect for you really, Lavender."

"I agree with that, Margaret," Mrs. Brown said, and a sly smile spread on her face. "I was Emily's prefect when she was in Ravenclaw. Hadn't a clue then that she'd be headmistress material. Happy she is now though." She chuckled to herself. "I'll speak to her as well."

Lavender nodded and smiled. "Selene Lyra Sylvia Margaret Finnigan," she said as she rubbed her belly. "What do you think?"

Mrs. Brown ran her hand down her daughter's hair. "Beautiful, darling, but who's Lyra?"

"Just a nickname I picked up," Lavender said, with a wink to her husband.

-~####

At a little past three in the afternoon a man appeared at the infirmary doors carrying a small blonde girl. A woman stood beside him and it was obvious she had been crying. Seamus rose from the chair next to his mother's, and went to the couple and their child. "They let you go from Saint Mungo's then?" The man nodded. "Good. She's just this way." Seamus led them back down the aisle.

Mrs. Finnigan and Mrs. Brown rose from their chairs as Seamus and the little family approached.

"Come down to The Grove as soon as you're able, Lavender," Mrs. Finnigan said to her. "You can stay as long as you like."

"And don't forget your dear old mum either," Mrs. Brown told her.

Lavender smiled at her mothers. "You'll be seeing a lot more of me and Seamus. I love you both, thanks for coming."

"Take care, Lavender," Mrs. Finnigan said as she patted Lavender's hand. "I'll see you soon."

Mrs. Brown bent and hugged her daughter. "I love you," she said in a husky voice. "Don't be a stranger."

"We won't, Mum. I promise," Lavender said as she hugged her mother back, "and remember the looks on Artemisia and Jasmine's faces when you tell them. I want a full description when I see you again."

"They're going to flip, Lavender. Should be pretty funny," Mrs. Brown said with an almost girlish giggle as she stood and straightened her robes.

Seamus drew her into a hug. "We'll be around a fair bit more, and thanks for coming, Sylvia."

"Thank you, Seamus," she said, and stepped back to look at the man woman and child that accompanied him. She kneeled down to talk too the girl. "You've met my daughter?"

"Yes," the girl replied. "I was rescued by Den God Vargen," she said proudly, and turned to Lavender. "I told you I dreamt that you got hurt."

Lavender took her hand. "Yes you did, but I had to stop those bad people, and I'll be okay. In fact I'll be better than ever."

Mrs. Brown rose to her feet, and moved to Seamus's side

He and his mothers were grinning broadly at the scene before them. "Lav, this is Gunter and Anna, you've met Carina. Gunter, Anna, Carina, this is my mother Margaret, Lavender's mother Sylvia, and my wife Lavender."

Gunter stepped forward and clasped Lavender's hand. "I have no words big enough to thank you. My wife's English is poor, but she cannot say even in Swedish how much she owes you."

Lavender took Anna's hand. "You're welcome. I'm very happy no harm came to Carina. She's a very special child, not many have the gift as she does."

Tears flowed down Anna's face. "Sank you so much, I …" and she fell to her knees and hugged Lavender fiercely. "You saved my Carina," she said against Lavender's shoulder. "I thought we'd lost her forever."

Lavender patted her back as the woman cried. "It's okay, she's here now, and those people will never harm another child."

Gunter looked Lavender in the eyes and she saw a raging fire there. "They are dead?" He nearly spat.

Lavender matched his expression. "Yes, all but one innocent guard, and I'm given to understand that my husband razed the place to the ground. Nothing of them remains."

"Good," he said as his wife rose from Lavender's side.

The door to the office opened and Madam Pomfrey walked slowly up the aisle. "Alright, Seamus you know the rules, three at a time, no more than two hours. You've gone well beyond that, so say your goodbyes. Lavender needs her beauty sleep."

"I've never seen her look more beautiful in my life," Mrs. Brown said. "Goodbye, dear. I'll see you soon."

"Goodbye, Lavender," Mrs. Finnigan said. "Come on, Sylvia," she said as she put her hand on the other woman's shoulder. "We've got baby shopping to do." The two women strode back up the aisle chatting happily.

"We will be on our way as well," Gunter said. "If you come to Sweden please visit with us, and thank you again." He clasped Seamus's hand and shook it vigorously.

Seamus returned his hand shake. "You can find your way back to the entrance hall?"

"Oh yes, Goodbye Mrs. Finnigan, Mr. Finnigan," he said.

Carina stepped to Lavender's bedside, rose on her toes and kissed her cheek. "Goodbye, God Vargen. Thank you," she said.

Lavender wrapped her arms around the girl and kissed the top of her head. "Good bye, Carina. Use the gift wisely." She took Anna's hand, and the two women shared a look of understanding that no words could convey. One woman thanking the other for the safety of her child, one woman making it plain she would never have done anything less.


End file.
